Cyprus and Belgium meet in the second round of the Preliminary Group I European Championship in 2020. The match will be disputed Sunday at 19:45 at GSP Stadium in Nicosia.
In the ten direct confrontations disputed so far, the balance is nine victories for Belgium and a draw, recorded in 1995 in Cyprus. The last two duels were played in 2016 and 2017 in the World Championship preliminary rounds of 2018, “Red Dragons” managed to impose both on their own (4-0) and away (3-0).
At least until the start of this duel, Cyprus can boast the first position in Group I, after the own home win against the San Marino selected, score 5-0. Belgium has also begun in a convincing manner this preliminary group, through a victory recorded at King Baudouin Stadium against Russia, score 3-1, a duel in which Eden Hazard managed a double.
Belgium has been excellent in the last seven away games, with a four-win balance, two draws and one defeat, and an average of 3.1 goals scored per match. Saturday, Roberto Martinez’s national team is on the field of a band that has played admirable in the last games played on the ground, with only two defeats suffered since 2017 and so far (nine matches). However, during this time, the most striking opponent Cyprus met on its own was Bosnia and Herzegovina, which the hosts managed to win with a score of 3-2.
Thomas Meunier, Vincent Kompany, Kevin De Bruyne, Axel Witsel and Romelu Lukaku are injured and will not be present on the pitch at the guests.
Probable teams:
Cyprus: Panayi – Demetriou, Merkis, Laifis, Ioannou – Artymatas, Efrem – Papoulis, Kastanos, Avraam – Mytidis;
Belgium: Courtois – Alderweireld, Boyata, Vertonghen – Castagne, Dendoncker, Tielemans, Hazard – Mertens, Batshuayi, Hazard;
In the five displacements in Cyprus, the “Red Dragons” received only one goal and three of the four wins were won by a minimum of two goals (two results of 3-0). Belgian parties are, in most cases, extremely spectacular, and the Nicosia duel should not make an exception. We score at least one goal scored in both halves, but also a success from Eden Hazard, the main marker of the guests in the absence of Romelu Lukaku.
PREDICTION: Over 2,5 goals @ 1,55
