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Belgiumvs.Luxembourg

sportsmole.co.uk, 6 June 2024, 16:45
Belgium conclude their preparations for Euro 2024 by squaring off against Luxembourg in Brussels on Saturday night.

While the Red Devils are going through the motions ahead of another major tournament, the visitors will want to find some form ahead of their upcoming UEFA Nations League campaign.

Match preview

Few bookmakers are fancying Belgium to make a major play for this year's European Championship, yet Domenico Tedesco will be delighted with the trajectory of his side.

Belgium have not suffered a single defeat since the 2022 World Cup, with Tedesco recording the ninth win of his 13-game reign against Montenegro earlier this week.

Kevin De Bruyne and Leandro Trossard scored at the end of each half to secure a 2-0 victory in Brussels, Tedesco making a point of limiting many players to just 45 minutes of action.

A fourth clean sheet in five games was also posted, the only goals that have been conceded during that period being a penalty and last-gasp equaliser against England at Wembley Stadium.

Tedesco will hope that this is the ideal fixture for Belgium to add another victory to their collection, yet Luxembourg will be hoping to cause a surprise on their travels.

That did not materialise earlier this week as they succumbed to a 3-0 defeat at the hands of France in Metz with Kylian Mbappe among the goalscorers for the home side.

Luc Holtz will be content with Luxembourg's effort and form in general, though, with three victories having been recorded in their previous four fixtures.

Bosnia-Herzegovina, Liechtenstein and Kazakhstan have all been defeated, with the only loss coming in an away friendly with Georgia.

This is Luxembourg's final game before they head into what they will feel is a winnable UEFA Nations group with Northern Ireland, Belarus and Bulgaria.

A decade has passed since these two nations last met, with Belgium prevailing 5-1 on that occasion having initially been pegged back by a 13th-minute equaliser by a Luxembourg team that were far more inferior than what they are now.

Belgium form (all competitions):

D

W

W

D

D

W

Luxembourg form (all competitions):

L

W

W

L

W

L

Team News

Tedesco will likely look to hand a recall to Romelu Lukaku after he was left out entirely against Montenegro.

Youri Tielemans is another player who finds himself in the same situation, but changes may be few and far between given that so many players were provided with 45 minutes last time out.

The outfield players who played 90 minutes - Zeno Debast, Maxim De Cuyper, Arthur Vermeeren and Lois Openda - could all drop out.

Sebastien Thill and Mirza Mustafic both sustained injuries during the defeat in France and are not expected to feature here.

Mustafic had initially been introduced to replace the latter, so an opportunity given to Chris Philipps may prove to be the only change made to the Luxembourg XI.

Belgium possible starting lineup:

Casteels; Meunier, Witsel, Vertonghen, Castagne; Mangala, Onana; Bakayoko, De Bruyne, Doku; Lukaku

Luxembourg possible starting lineup:

Moris; Dzogovic, Chanot, Mahmutovic; Jans; Martins Pereira; Sinani, Philipps, Olesen, Carlson; Rodrigues

We say: Belgium 4-0 Luxembourg

With Tedesco naturally wanting to step up the sharpness of some of his players, this could end up being one-way traffic. Luxembourg have their own qualities, yet they may struggle to withstand Belgium's attacking flair on this occasion.

Previews by email

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