2018 FIFA WORLD CUP – Belgium vs Tunisia PREVIEW
A crucial game for both teams that could decide their fate at the world cup. A win for Belgium and they’re through, a win for Tunisia and they put themselves in a great position to finish above Belgium. All to play for in this match.
BELGIUM
Belgium started off their campaign in a successful fashion. They did a professional job beating Panama 3-0. Although to start off the game, Belgium looked sluggish and they couldn’t break them down in the 1st half, Belgium did pick up their form in the 2nd half and dominated their opponent. Lukaku showed up with 2 goals, Mertens added the other while Hazard and de Bruyne did some good work setting up although de Bruyne played a bit below par but that’s more due to the positioning as he has to play deeper rather than forward which he would prefer which is something Martinez needs to have a look at. Belgium’s backline got cut open once, but Courtois protected his clean sheet and other than that they looked solid at the back other than a few shaky moments from Boyata and Carrasco at LWB which is something Belgium need sort out especially because bigger nations will destroy that left side. It was a performance that Belgium will definitely have to improve on, they need to cut the sluggishness out of their game which they did have at times but if you look at every big team so far, Belgium were one of the more impressive ones actually managing to win in a comfortable fashion.
Coming into the game against Tunisia, the target is obvious, they have to win. A loss here puts Belgium in a bad situation having to play England in the last game. Vincent Kompany is still expected to be out and Boyata will fill in his boots whose been shaky as said already and will need to sort it out because Tunisia will be way more threatening than Panama. Going forward, Belgium must not play lazy football where they’re at walking pace just moving the ball around sideways and not creating anything, they need to get Eden, Mertens, KDB on the ball and let them create for their striker or score goals themselves because Belgium had unreal talent going forward and it would be stupid for them waste it. Tunisia struggled whenever England went into a higher gear in the opener, so if Belgium play to their full abilities, there’s no way they don’t win, they need to find a way to get De Bruyne play more forward because he struggles playing deep as it’s not his natural position and Carrasco can’t be switched off when having to defend playing LWB.
TUNISIA
Tunisia started off with a heart breaking defeat To England. They were beaten in the 90th minute after Harry Kane scored a header. Tunisia did everything well to earn a point, they used every trick in the book to waste time and frustrate England, but unfortunately they got punished in the end. Tunisia didn’t look that threatening for most of the game, except from the penalty and a few little chances. Other than that Tunisia were pegged back for the majority of the game but somehow managed to keep England away from scoring more goals and putting the game away earlier. A top performance by their goalkeepers kept them in the game for the most part of it. Tunisia did lose their starting GK due to injury and he might be out for the tournament.
Coming into the game against Belgium, Tunisia have to get something out of this game. To get something here, Tunisia have to be solid at the back because Belgium have one of the most talented attacks in the tournament and they will punish Tunisia if they’re not at their best game. Tunisia looked shaky against England and cannot afford to give up that many chances again because Belgium will take them and it will be game over very quickly. Tunisia have to try and show something going forward, maybe try get Sliti on the ball more so he can go on some darting runs and try to get Khazri involved in the game, he’s that player that can provide magic out of nowhere. Tunisia need to try and exploit the right side because Belgium’s LB position is very shaky as mentioned already. If Tunisia can go back to being an organised side at the back with a few moments of magic going forward then they’ll have a chance. They have to try and frustrate Belgium as much as possible in this game. It’s not an impossible task to get something here for Tunisia, but it will be a daunting task.
Prediction
It’s going to be an interesting game. We shouldn’t expect Belgium to completely destroy Tunisia, but they should be capable of picking up a win. It’s going to be intriguing to see how Tunisia deal with the attacking four of Hazard KDB Mertens and Lukaku because it’s an incredibly tough task. We should expect Belgium’s danger men to put on a good display. Belgium does have a shaky CB in Boyata and their LWB Carrasco has been exposable so a Tunisia goal shouldn’t come to anyone as a surprise, but in the end Belgium do have world class talent which is something Tunisia lack and they are more trusted to provide the finishing tough in the final third. Tunisia will put up a fight, but essentially Belgium will pull off a 2-1 win.
Group Standings
1 Belgium 3 pts +3 GD
2 England 3 pts +1 GD
3 Tunisia 0 pts -1 GD
4 Panama 0 pts -3 GD
ODDS – Decimal (WilliamHill)
Belgium Win – 1.36
Draw – 4.80
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