Euro 2024: Ukraine vs Belgium tips and predictions – Romelu Lukaku targets breakthrough in key game

Seb Sternik
25 June 2024

The most competitive group at the Euros comes to a close as Ukraine and Belgium fight for a place in the knockouts stages this Wednesday in Stuttgart (1700 BST).

From the lows of defeat to the highs of victory, both Ukraine and Belgium have experienced more emotions than a 12-year-old girl at a Taylor Swift concert. Having watched the show with my niece, believe me – I know what I’m talking about.

There will be plenty more emotions on show in Stuttgart as Ukraine and Belgium vie for a spot in the Last-16 stage.

The Red Devils enter this fixture as slight favourites according to the bookmakers. Domenico Tedesco’s side come into the match after enduring a shock 1-0 defeat to Slovakia and but they recovered with a solid 2-0 success over Romania.

Belgium have a lot of star power among their ranks, including Kevin De Bruyne, Leandro Trossard, Jeremy Doku and Romelu Lukaku.

Quality has not been an issue for Belgium over the years. The real problem has been stringing all that talent into one cohesive unit.

Euro 2024 offer: Bet £10 pre-match, Get a £5 free bet if both teams score 1st half

Ukraine have got a similar dilemma. Serhiy Rebrov has a plethora of talent at his disposal from Andriy Lunin and Mykhailo Mudryk to Oleksandr Zinchenko and Artem Dovbyk.

Trouble is, the Ukrainians kicked off the tournament with a shock 3-0 defeat and are now fighting to get back on track.

Their 2-1 win over Slovakia was certainly a step in the right direction and if Ukraine can replicate that performance, expect Wednesday’s clash with Belgium to be a close one.

We’re backing both teams to get onto the scoresheet and the match to be won by a margin of one goal.

Incredibly, Romelu Lukaku is yet to get on the scoresheet at the tournament. But with the amount of chances coming his way, that is bound to change at some point. With that in mind, back the big forward to get among the goals.