Belgium face Azerbaijan in a key encounter in Group F of Euro 2024 qualifying. Below we bring you the best tips.
Team news
Manchester City new boy Jeremy Doku is the big young hope for Belgium now as the Golden Generation depart. With Kevin De Bruyne out through injury, there’s an opportunity for Everton’s Amadou Onana to take centre stage in midfield. Meanwhile Leandro Trossard will be hoping for some minutes given his limited gametime with his club Arsenal so far this term.
For Azerbaijan, Grasshopper forward Renat Dadashov will look to provide a threat going forward, while promising forward Musa Qurbanlı moved to Djurgårdens IF in Sweden this summer. He could be their next big thing.
Belgium -2 handicap
This should all be relatively straightforward. With the new generation of Belgian talent looking almost as brilliant as the last, but without the pressure, perhaps now they can perform on the world stage. In Youri Tielemens, Orel Mangala and Onana they have an energetic midfield in its prime, while their reliance on players over 30 has diminished.
They were painfully disappointing at the World Cup, but since then, the new era has seen them win 3-0 away twice, including in Sweden and draw 1-1 with talented Austrian outfit. They should win this game comfortably, and the -2 handicap is generously priced given Azerbaijan lost 5-0 to Sweden in this group.
Belgium over 4.5 goals
Belgium proved they were a far superior outfit to Sweden when the two sides met, so by that theory, they should also be able to score five past Azerbaijan. Obviously, football is not that simple otherwise we’d all be very rich, but Belgium have scored in 24 of their last 26 away matches and avoided defeat in 14 of their last 16 away games.
With Romelu Lukaku still involved along with Doku and Trossard, Belgium under Domenico Tedesco should be able to put Azerbaijan to the sword. Given every goal matters as they look to overhaul Austria, they are unlikely to take their foot of the pedal at any point, and even if the game is one should still be hunting for goals.
The 6/1 on offer for Belgium to score five goals feels absolutely huge.
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