Euro 2024: Belgium vs Slovakia tips and predictions - Romelu Lukaku to score as Red Devils dominate
- George Dempsey
- 17 June 2024
Domenico Tedesco's red-hot Belgium side take on underdogs Slovakia in Frankfurt on Monday afternoon (1700 BST) in their first Group E fixture at Euro 2024.
We’ll get our first glimpse of the Red Devils of Belgium on Monday afternoon as they take on Slovakia in Frankfurt.
Euro 2024 kicked off with a glut of goals on Friday night as Germany trounced Scotland 5-1 and what’s followed has been a thoroughly enjoyable watch.
Underdogs Hungary, Albania, Poland, Slovenia and Serbia reminded their opponents how arduous winning at the international level can be.
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England and Spain are the only sides to have secured a cleat sheet during a frenetic start to the tournament and we’re expecting more goalmouth action in this match.
Domenico Tedesco’s side have averaged 2.35 goals per game under his watch, producing 10 wins and four draws from 14 outings, including a 3-2 win in Germany.
They won by the same margin on a recent trip to Austria and were forced to settle for a 2-2 draw with England at Wembley in March, so there’s a bit of chaos about them.
It’s worth pointing out they enjoy a run at the European Championship and have scored in each of their last nine matches. Romelu Lukaku has netted six times during that run.
The big man always seems to be in form. He reached double figures for Roma again this season, netted 14 times in qualifying and scored twice in his sole warm-up appearance.
Slovakia’s defence record against even middling European sides suggests they’ll struggle to contain Belgium in Frankfurt, even if they are capable of contributing a goal themselves.
The results that stand out from their qualifying campaign are a 3-2 loss away to Portugal and a chaotic 4-2 win over Iceland. Their only true test on either side of that was a 2-0 loss to Austria.
We get the feeling that Tedesco’s side is going to enjoy themselves in Germany and score bags of goals, but we can’t write off Slovakia on the evidence of the games so far.
Team news
Thibaut Courtois’ absence means a start for Koen Casteels behind a back three of Axel Witsel, Maxim De Cuyper and Wout Faes.
Fans of English football will be familiar with the six expected to start ahead of him, which should include Jeremy Doku and Timothy Castagne out wide.
Kevin De Bruyne and Leandro Trossard will likely support Romelu Lukaku.
Newcastle’s Martin Dubravka will guard the Slovakian net with some help from Paris Saint-Germain’s Milan Skriniar.
The experienced Juraj Kucka, now 37, will anchor the midfield with help from Napoli’s Stanislav Lobotka and Verona’s Ondrej Duda.
Francesco Calzona’s side looks short of a prolific scorer, but Boavista forward Robert Bozenik managed 11 goal involvements in Portugal and looks their best chance.
Key stats
- Belgium scored 22 goals in eight qualifiers
- The Red Devils have scored two or more in nine of their last 14 matches
- Romelu Lukaku scored 14 goals in Euro 2024 qualifiers
- Slovakia have failed to beat 11 of 12 opponents ranked above them since 2021
