Belgium, who are one of the main favorites for winning the World Cup, are playing a friendly against Egypt at the Stade Roi Baudouin in Brussels. Obviously, the home side is expected to win, but anything can happen in friendlies. So, what should you bet on? Find out in this Belgium vs. Egypt match preview!
Belgium
Belgium finished their World Cup qualification campaign without a single defeat. Actually, they failed to win only one game. The match in question was the duel with Greece, which ended 1:1. The main trait of Belgium in the last couple of years has been their attacking prowess. In the qualifiers, they scored 43 goals, more than any other European team, apart from Germany (who also scored 43).
That’s not a big surprise considering that Belgium have a number of super-talented forwards. Of course, their number 9 is Romelu Lukaku, who’s been one of the key men in Manchester United last season. There’s also Mertens from Napoli, Hazard from Chelsea, and of course, Belgium’s arguably best player, Kevin De Bruyne.
Speaking of De Bruyne, he seems like the guy who can lead this team to glory. He won the best player award in the Premier League for the season 2017/2018, which is another proof that he has the quality to help his team reach the final stages of the tournament.
Belgium’s Achilles’ heel seems to be their defense. Their goalie didn’t have a good season in Chelsea, but his talent mustn’t be questioned. A bigger problem is that they have a weak link on the left side. Their full-backs Jordan Lukaku and Laurent Ciman don’t seem to be playing at the same level as the rest of the team.
But, the real problem at the back is that Vincent Kompany got injured recently and might miss the World Cup (certainly the first few games). This means that Belgium will have to go with two center-backs in the starting eleven, instead of three which is what they tried against Portugal last week. The good news is that they have the friendly with Egypt to test out the new formation.
Egypt
The biggest news from Egypt squad is that they will be without Mohamed Salah. Whether he’ll be ready to play at the World Cup still remains the question, but he definitely won’t feature in the friendlies. And Egypt will have to learn how to do without him.
They have a good chance to get to the second stage at the World Cup, especially if Salah gets back in the team. But, in the case that he doesn’t recover on time, they better get ready to play without him. This is the reason why for them the friendly with Belgium is of big importance.
I think Egypt will try to get their forwards in a good form. They need to start playing better in the attack if they wish to do well at the World Cup. This team has scored only 8 goals in the previous 10 matches, counting all competitions. Half of those were scored by Mohamed Salah.
Team News
Belgium:
- Kompany is out due to an injury
Egypt:
- Salah remains injured
Possible Lineups
Belgium:
Courtois – Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Mounier, Jordan Lukaku – Witsel, De Bruyne, Dembele – Hazard, Mertens, Lukaku
Egypt:
El Shenawy – Samir, Hegazy, Ibrahim, Shafy – Hamed, Morsy, Bekhit – Sobhi, Hassan, Mohsen
Belgium vs. Egypt Match Prediction
Obviously, the quality is on the side of Belgium, but considering that this is a friendly match, anything can happen. By “anything”, I mean that Egypt may score once or twice. That’s why maybe betting on goals is a better alternative than putting money on home win.
Belgium vs. Egypt Betting Tips
- Belgium @1.36 (bet365)
- Over 2.5 Goals @1.81 (Unibet)