Will the “Red Devils’” losing streak against their neighbors continue?
The two nations already faced off last week on Matchday 2 of the current edition of the competition. The match in Brussels ended with a lucky 1-0 away win for the French. It wasn’t until shortly before the final whistle that Coach Zinedine Zidane’s team secured the victory thanks to a goal by Michael Olise.
With this win, the home team cemented its status as a bogey team for the “Red Devils.” The “Equipe Tricolore” currently boasts no fewer than half a dozen consecutive wins in this matchup. However, we believe the visitors are capable of scoring at least one goal this time around.
With the exception of the aforementioned scoreless draw against the French, the Belgian national team is currently quite dangerous in front of the net. Coach Mark van Bommel’s squad recorded a 3-0 home win against Turkey last Friday night and kicked off the current edition of the tournament in Italy with a commanding 2-0 away victory.
Given this and a tight personnel situation in the visitors’ defense, we believe the match between France and Belgium is likely to result in both teams finding the back of the net.
Olise scored the decisive winning goal in the recent matchup in the Belgian capital last week and then scored a spectacular free kick in the 1-1 draw against Italy in front of his home crowd.
France – Belgium Head-to-Head Record
As mentioned at the beginning, the fourth-place finish at the last World Cup this past summer in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico has long been a tough place for Belgium to play. Since a 4–3 victory in a friendly in 2015, the Belgian national team has failed to earn any points against the French national team.
Instead, the hosts currently boast a streak of six straight wins against their neighbors. For the upcoming France vs. Belgium match, the odds also favor the 2021 Nations League champions.
France – Belgium Prediction
“Not France again,” the Belgians must be thinking. For more than a decade and across six matchups, the “Diables Rouges” have consistently suffered defeats in this fixture.
Their most recent defeat came just over a week ago. However, the “Bleus’” latest home game against Italy showed that their opponent isn’t insurmountable defensively.
In Zinedine Zidane’s home debut as France’s coach, the Equipe Tricolore could only manage a 1-1 draw.
In contrast, the visitors recently impressed offensively in their 3-0 victory over Turkey in Liège.
The goals were scored by the two veteran players Kevin de Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku, who demonstrated that, despite their advanced age, they are still hungry for goals. With that in mind, the odds for both teams to score in the showdown between France and Belgium look promising.
This prediction is supported by Upamecano’s red card last Friday shortly before the end of the match against Italy. As a result, coach Zinedine Zidane must reshuffle his defense, which is already weakened by the injury-related absences of Ibrahima Konaté and William Saliba. On top of that, with Aurélien Tchouaméni out of the defensive midfield, the team is missing another strong player in defensive situations.
