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Steffen Schmidt - June 16, 2023
Belgium vs Austria
UEFA EURO Qualifications
Date: 17 June 2023, Saturday
Kick-off at 19:45 UK / 20:45 CET
Venue: Stade Roi Baudouin (Bruxelles).
Belgium made a huge step towards securing one of the top two spots in Group F of the 2024 UEFA EURO Qualifications by beating main rivals Sweden 0-3 on the road on the opening day of the competition.
They will have a great chance to make another (potentially already decisive) step towards the big tournament on Saturday evening when they play host to Austria at Stade Roi Baudouin.
The Austrians currently sit at the top of the section after wins over Azerbaijan and Estonia. However, they did not shine at all in the second round against the Estonians, claiming the three-pointer only after a late winner from Freiburg’s Michael Gregoritsch.
On another note, though, Ralf Rangnick’s men travel to Belgium on the back of four consecutive wins, a run that includes a famous 2-0 victory over Italy in a friendly in November last year.
Nevertheless, this will be a whole new test for Das Team, especially for Austria’s defensive line which has already been exploited so many times by elite teams in the past.
Rangnick can be worried with the fact that his men allowed a goal in each of the opening two qualifiers despite facing the likes of Azerbaijan and Estonia along the way.
To make things worse for Austria, Belgium have bagged three goals in each of the last two matches despite playing the likes of Sweden and Germany in the process.
Romelu Lukaku was phenomenal on the opening day of the EURO qualifiers, completing a hat-trick in a demolishing victory over the Swedes on the road.
He was also on target in a friendly against Germany. It is, however, worth noting that Belgium will be without their main creator Kevin De Bruyne who suffered an injury in the first half of the UEFA Champions League final against Inter Milan last Saturday.
This match has goals in it as both outfits have been playing attacking-minded football of late. The Red Devils still possess more quality in their ranks even without De Bruyne in the squad and we will take Belgium to win & Both Teams To Score at the odds of 3.60 as the main betting option here.
Alternatively, we will go for Romelu Lukaku to score anytime for the hosts at the 2.05 odds, following his hat-trick against Sweden on the opening day.
