Prediction & odds for the game: Belgium (1/8) v Iceland (14/1)
When: Tuesday, 8th September @ 7.45pm K.O
Where: King Baudouin Stadium
Belgium and Iceland will meet in the UEFA Nations League this week as the countdown to UEFA Euro 2021 next year continues.
Belgium
Right now, the Belgian national team is ranked as the best in the world – despite only finishing third in the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Their golden generation is still somewhat going strong but as we look ahead to UEFA Euro 2021, you could argue this is their last real chance to introduce some silverware to their history books before a new crop of stars come through the door. For now, though, their focus needs to be on keeping the momentum going heading into next summer.
Winning just seems to be the standard procedure for this team nowadays, and back in September 2019, they reminded the world of that fact with a 4-0 demolition of Scotland. They proceeded to stick nine past San Marino before beating Kazakhstan, Russia and Cyprus, and in their return to action a few days ago, they beat Denmark 2-0 in the Nations League.
Iceland
The now-famous tale of Iceland battling their way through to the quarter-finals of UEFA Euro 2016 will forever be remembered as one of the greatest underdog stories on the international stage, and now, their aim will be to get back to those lofty heights and perhaps even exceed them. They don’t possess the kind of quality you’d usually see in a nation at this level, but their determination and resilience has ensured that they will have a fighting chance in the playoffs next month.
Beating Andorra and Moldova late last year didn’t do much to convince fans that this Iceland team is legit, but somehow, a 0-0 draw against Turkey did give cause for hope. They started off 2020 with back-to-back 1-0 successes against Canada and Salvador before taking on England in the Nations League, losing 1-0 in a dramatic finish which saw them also miss a penalty.
Conclusion
If Belgium are able to get into the sort of rhythm they have done in recent performances, then they’ll prove why they’re one of the favourites to win UEFA Euro 2021. We do think they’re going to control the tempo and while Iceland are more than capable of springing an upset, we just don’t think they’re sturdy enough to hold off one of the most exciting international sides on the planet right now. We’re backing the Red Devils, and we think it’ll be a convincing win.
We’re hoping for some drama, and with that should come over 2.5 goals. If we had to stick our neck out on the line and provide a scoreline prediction, we’re going to go with 3-0 to the hosts.
Verdict: Back the home win at odds of 1/8 and the over 2.5 goals scored at odds of 8/13 (All odds are taken from bet365).
[geosnippet id=3620]Go ahead and bet on Belgium vs Iceland if you can at the betting page, or, switch it up and choose one of our other available fixtures on the soccer predictions page.
