Belgium vs North Macedonia Prediction: Hosts to edge this contest

Belgium welcome North Macedonia to the Planet Group Arena on Friday (19:45 BST) for their Uefa World Cup qualifier. Both sides remain unbeaten and the visitors currently sit top of Group J with 11 points, while the hosts are on 10 in second.

Read on for my Belgium vs North Macedonia predictions, aided by the latest team news and match odds.

Team News

Belgium goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois's place between the sticks will continue now he has brought himself back into the fold, while Zeno Debast and Arthur Theate are likely to shield him as the centre-back pairing.

Youri Tielemans' injury could have an impact as he has been a regular in the starting XI for some time. His absence may present opportunities for Amadou Onana and Nicolas Raskin.

Kevin De Bruyne is set to be stationed between wide attackers Jeremy Doku and Leandro Trossard.

Football Odds

For North Macedonia, centre-backs Gjoko Zajkov and Andrej Stojchevski should be stationed in front of goalkeeper Stole Dimitrievski.

Forwards Bojan Miovski and Aleksandar Trajkovski are expected to start up top, while  Enis Bardhi and Isnik Alimi will likely feature in midfield.

Today's Football Fixtures

Belgium vs North Macedonia Odds

Having won their last three matches, Belgium are perceived as the 1/7 favourites to win this clash. Their last two victories were to nil and this market is available at 3/5.

These two sides drew when they met back in June, and the stalemate is marketed at 13/2, which has an implied probability of 13.3%.

North Macedonia have won their past two fixtures in qualifying and they are 18/1 to stun the Red Devils on Friday.

Both teams to score is on offer at 4/7, with the two sides playing out a 1-1 draw in the reverse fixture.

Belgium and both teams to score @ 23/10

It was a tight contest the last time these two sides faced each other, and I am expecting a similar game to unfold on this occasion. North Macedonia have not been messing around in qualifying and they are Belgium's greatest threat for top spot in the group.

Both teams come into this game with momentum from the September international break as they both recorded two victories. Belgium posted successive 6-0 wins against Liechtenstein and Kazakhstan, but against the more higher-calibre sides (Friday's opponents and Wales) their defence has been breached.

There is no question of their firepower with 17 goals scored already, but North Macedonia have 11 themselves, and they can cause the Red Devils problems once again.

This feels like a huge match in the grand scheme of things and I think Rudi Garcia's side can rise to the occasion. The visitors have shown their attacking quality and I think they can hurt Belgium here, but I believe the hosts' quality and squad depth should help them over the line for a big three points.

Over 2.5 goals @ 4/7

Over 2.5 goals feels like a smart selection for this clash given the attacking quality presented by both teams. This has been a successful bet in each of Belgium's last three matches heading into Friday. As well as this, at least three goals have been scored in each of their last three home appearances in all competitions.

The Red Devils have landed this selection single-handedly in four of their previous five outings and I think that we will see this trend continue against North Macedonia in Gent on Friday night.

Offers

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