Belgium to edge Portugal in last 16 thriller
Belgium and Portugal meet in the last 16 of Euro 2020 on Sunday evening in Seville, and the winners of that mouth-watering clash will face off against Italy or Austria in the quarter final. The Red Devils managed to win three from three, completely dominating Russia and Finland, and coming from behind to beat Denmark. Fernando Santos' charges escaped their group in the most dramatic of circumstances, occupying all four positions during their tussle with favourites France before drawing 2-2. The same scoreline between Germany and Hungary conspired to ensure that they'd finish third, and be handed a harder route on paper in the defence of their crown. Read our preview here:
Double Hazards
In stark contrast to Portugal, Roberto Martínez was able to heavily rotate his squad in their final group game whilst simultaneously handing first starts to Eden Hazard, Kevin De Bruyne, and Axel Witsel. All three will be pivotal to Belgium's chances on Sunday and further down the line if they can see off their first real challengers of the tournament. Dedryck Boyata did his own chances of selection ahead of Jason Denayer no harm whatsoever with a commanding display to keep Teemu Pukki ghostly quiet earlier in the week, but he'll be cognisant that neither he nor the elder statesmen flanking him on either side will be afforded such luxuries against a team containing a certain Cristiano Ronaldo, let alone the likes of Diogo Jota or Bernardo Silva operating in between the lines. The battle will be pitched in the centre of midfield - expect Witsel and Youri Tielemans to be assisted by De Bruyne both when on the defensive and during the build-up. The wing-backs, especially Eden's brother Thorgan, will look to give them out-balls and bomb on to support the front three. De Bruyne will almost certainly be nominally positioned behind Romelu Lukaku, and that combination could do serious damage to an equally pedestrian central defence.
Dirty Sanches
Ronaldo aside, there haven't been too many deeply impressive outfielders for A Seleção. Custodian Rui Patrício certainly underlined his own credentials with a stunning double save to deny Paul Pogba one of the goals of the tournament with his first effort, but one player who has thus far emulated his breakthrough performances from the last finals is Renato Sanches, who has been buzzing about midfield, popping up in pockets of space to progress possession and winning it back with well-timed tackles and interceptions. In a three-man unit with Danilo Pereira and vice-captain João Moutinho, their principal task as a collective will be to thwart Belgium's creativity through the middle, and then press home any advantage they can muster in the middle third of the field. Nélson Semedo, who had a much better game against the world champions, went off injured during that encounter. His replacement Diogo Dalot is no rookie, but will be up against the Hazard brothers on his flank. He needs adequate protection to avert the risk of being isolated.
A duel of glass cannons
Few observers would've disputed the narrative that Belgium's defensive unit as a whole is on the slower, creakier side. Conceding just one goal up to this point doesn't tell the whole story, and is a testament to the wealth of talent in more advanced areas to rival any nation in men's football. What wasn't known however was how susceptible Portugal would be down the sides, which was brutally exposed in their 4-2 reverse against Germany. Arguably, Martínez has even better individuals on both flanks to exploit those weaknesses, and just how conservative Santos can afford to be in that knowledge is anyone's guess. Betway have odds of 2.50 for Belgium to advance within 90 minutes.
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