Kazakhstan vs Belgium Prediction: Doku to do more damage to Hawks

Belgium, unbeaten in six World Cup qualifiers this year, travel to Astana on Saturday (14:00 GMT) for a game against Kazakhstan, whom they thrashed 6-0 in September's reverse fixture in Anderlecht. The Red Devils can clinch first place in Group J and secure their place in next year's finals with a win this weekend.

Below are my Kazakhstan vs Belgium predictions, supported by all the latest team news and match odds, ahead of this encounter at the Astana Arena.

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Team News

Kazakhstan are missing injured Kairat Almaty goalkeeper Aleksandr Zarutskiy, as well as Dynamo Moscow winger Bakhtiyar Zaynutdinov.

Football Odds

Thibaut Courtois has withdrawn from Rudi Garcia's Belgium squad with an adductor injury, so Matz Sels is set to deputise between the sticks this month.

Thomas Meunier, meanwhile, is suspended due to an accumulation of yellow cards.

Kazakhstan vs Belgium Odds

Kazakhstan won last time out at home and Saturday's hosts are 14/1, or a 6.7% chance, to record back-to-back victories in Astana - while Belgium are 1/6 (85.7%) to triumph. The draw is priced at 13/2.

Betfred are offering a couple of Price Boosts on this game, including Belgium's Leandro Trossard to score 2+ goals at 15/2 (was 13/2).

To Win to Nil - Belgium @ 9/10

At just under EVS, this looks like quite a generous price, considering Kazakhstan have blanked in three of their last five qualifiers.

The Hawks failed to score in a hat-trick of defeats against North Macedonia (0-1), Wales (0-1) and Belgium (6-0) before beating Liechtenstein (4-0) and drawing with North Macedonia (1-1) last month.

Today's Football Fixtures

Belgium have conceded six goals in as many Group J games, but three of those were in a 4-3 victory over Wales on June 9, and two of the other three were against the same opposition on October 13, as the Red Devils ran out 4-2 winners in Cardiff.

Garcia's side comfortably dealt with Kazakhstan at home in September, and while they may struggle to record a similar scoreline in Astana, I think that, with qualification in sight, they can keep another clean sheet against the Hawks on Saturday.

Anytime Goalscorer - Jeremy Doku (BEL) @ 6/4

Manchester City winger Jeremy Doku capped a player-of-the-match display against Liverpool last Sunday with a sublime strike in his side's 3-0 win at the Etihad Stadium.

The 23-year-old ended his 24-game Premier League goal drought in style, but he had scored twice already this season for the Citizens, netting in a 2-0 Uefa Champions League victory over Napoli on September 18 and a 3-1 Carabao Cup win at Swansea City on October 29.

Doku has also scored three times for Belgium in their qualification campaign, including a brace in September's reverse fixture with Kazakhstan.

Betfred have boosted Doku to score the first goal to 13/2 (was 11/2) on Saturday, but if you fancy playing things a little safer, you can back him to notch anytime at 6/4.