Ireland vs Belgium Prediction & Match Preview

Steffen Schmidt - March 24, 2022

Republic of Ireland vs Belgium
International Friendlies
Date: 26 March 2022, Saturday
Kick-off at 17:00 UK / 18:00 CET
Venue: Aviva Stadium (Dublin).

Republic of Ireland will try and extend their six-game unbeaten streak on Saturday afternoon when they play host to one of the continent’s heavyweights, Belgium, in a friendly at Aviva Stadium.

The Irish national team have had another disappointing qualifying campaign overall but we have noticed some significant improvements in their latest performances under Stephen Kenny.

These are mainly concerned with Republic of Ireland’s defense as the team suddenly started to look much tougher to break down in the most recent games.

Republic of Ireland have thus conceded only one goal in the last five matches (including a 4-0 win over Qatar in a friendly).

It is a great run of form if we know they have faced both Serbia and Portugal in the process, staying unbeaten against both top-two sides in their respective World Cup Qualifying group.

We fancy Republic of Ireland’s chances of success even here against Belgium despite a huge gulf in quality between the two teams in terms of both roster and FIFA rankings.

Speaking of rosters, though, the Belgians will be without their main stars here. As a matter of fact, no player with 50 or more caps for the national team will feature Belgium’s next two frindlies against Republic of Ireland and Burkina Faso.

Christian Benteke and Michy Batshuayi will thus likely lead the line, while the main stars in midfield will be Youri Tielemans, Thorgan Hazard, and Leandro Trossard.

Ireland vs Belgium Head-to-head

• Belgium have been the dominant force in the history of this matchup as they are unbeaten in the last eight meetings with Republic of Ireland.
• Nevertheless, five of these eight clashes have ended in stalemates.
• The previous H2H encounter occurred in the group stage of 2016 Euro in France when Belgium celebrated a convincing 3-0 victory.

Ireland vs Belgium Prediction

Republic of Ireland kept four successive clean sheets and we expect them to maintain this defensive solidity against the reserve Belgian team here.

Of course, the visitors remain big favorites (as the odds suggest), but we would definitely not be surprised to see Republic of Ireland avoiding a defeat in front of their fans at Aviva Stadium. The draw is priced up at the 3.75 odds, while we also like the Under 2.5 goals FT pick at the odds of 1.70.

Ireland vs Belgium Betting Tips

• Draw @ 3.75 (11/4)

• Under 2.5 goals FT @ 1.70 (7/10) odd.