Wales – Belgium

Wales and Belgium will square off in the Euro 2016 quarterfinals, after the Brits took 4 points off Belgium in the preliminaries. It was 1-0 in Cardiff and 0-0 in Bruxelles.

Wales has been one of the most reliable teams in the tournament so far. They won their group despite losing against England, an unlucky loss and went on to defeat Northern Ireland 1-0 in a poor Round 16 match – but a match Wales dominated both tactically and in terms of possession. As expected, Wales has a very good organization, players are tactically disciplined and Bale so far did what he had to do and more – being decisive throughout the tournament, scoring 3 goals and forcing Northern Ireland’s own goal in the last match.

Belgium has been very strong after the opening 0-2 loss against Italy. Since then, the Belgians won against Ireland, Sweden and Hungary with an aggregate score of 8-0, which is something you don`t see very often in this day and age at major tournaments. Sure, Belgium did not play a top class opponent since the loss with Italy and Wales will definitely represent a more difficult test than the likes of Ireland, Sweden and Hungary.

Place your bet on Wales v Belgium with the best Euro 2016 odds at 1xBet.com now!

Team news & lineups:

Williams is questionable for Wales, while Belgium has problems in defense as Vermaelen (suspended) and Vertonghen (injured) are out. Hazard is also doubtful, but he should be in the starting lineup.

Wales: Hennessey – Chester, Williams, Davies – Gunter, Taylor, Ramsey, Allen, Ledley – Bale – Robson-Kanu

Belgium: Courtois – Meunier, Alderweireld, Denayer, Lukaku – Nainggolan, Witsel – Mertens, De Bruyne, Hazard – Lukaku

Belgium is still a bit of an unknown. Their last 3 matches were impressive, but the opposition was not strong and there are question over Belgium’s coaching and tactical discipline against better opposition. The well organized Wales side looks like a perfect opponent to take advantage if Belgium does not play smart tactically – as seen in the preliminaries.

I have to admit I am very surprised that we get odds of almost 1.70 for under 2.5 goals, when many matches in this tournament had odds as low as 1.40 for such a result. In my eyes, there were not many matches more prone to under than this one. True, Belgium must improvise at the back, we have to take that into account, so it`s logical for the odds to go up. However, I think style of play and the way the defense is set up count more than individual players.

Belgium has not allowed a goal since the Italy game and they will try to repeat that performance here. Wales can be dangerous with Bale on the break, but it won`t be easy scoring against this Belgium side. On the other hand, Belgium will probably have a lot of problems breaking down this disciplined Wales team.

This is a match in which Wales can play exactly the way they want – good, steady defense and fast counters. I think they should be able to frustrate Belgium, similar to what they did in the qualifiers, when they kept a clean sheet in both matches. However, when all is said and done, I can see Belgium edging this due to sheer quality.

All in all, my tip is under 2,5 goals to be scored. I will bet against goals, even if we must consider Belgium’s injuries and suspensions at the back. Prediction: Wales – Belgium 0-1.

Pick: under 2,5 goals
Odds: 1.68 @ 1xBet
Stake: 8
Possible profit: 5.44
Event date: 1 July