Belgium vs Slovakia Predictions

• Belgium’s last four wins have been to nil
• The Red Devils have five clean sheets in their last six outings
• Six of Slovakia’s last nine games have gone over 2.5 goals
• Leandro Trossard scored 17 times in all competitions for Arsenal last season

Belgians looking to build on qualifying campaign

Belgium disappointed at the last World Cup, departing at the group stage, but since Roberto Martinez was replaced by Domenico Todesco, they have hardly put a foot wrong.

The Red Devils are unbeaten in the last 12 months, drawing four and winning ten of their games under Todesco.

They breezed through qualifying, finishing well clear of Sweden in third after racking up an aggregate score of 22-4 in their eight games.

Romelu Lukaku finished as the top scorer of the qualification stage after netting a whopping 14 times while Kevin De Bruyne and Alex Witsel also remain from the golden generation that have previously fallen short.

Youngsters such as Amadou Onana, Arthur Vermeeren and Jeremy Doku are at the opposite end of their international careers and this squad does have the feeling of one in transition.

Todesco’s men start their campaign on Monday against Slovakia, who look up against it in Germany.

Slovakia may struggle

The Central Europeans landed in a straightforward qualifying group and duly finished runners-up behind Portugal but this is a significant step up.

Slovakia scored just two goals as they were dumped out in the group stages of the last Euros and they could suffer a similar fate this time around.

They have a solid spine containing Newcastle goalkeeper Martin Dubravka, PSG defender Milan Skriniar and Napoli’s Stanislav Lobotka in midfield.

However they only have two players in double-figures for international goals and they are both veteran midfielders, Juraj Kucka and Ondrej Duda.

Talisman Marek Hamsik retired last year and without him there is a distinct lack of attacking spark.

They did beat San Marino and a struggling Wales side both 4-0 as they warmed up for this tournament but they won’t have things that easy here.

Comfortable win likely for Red Devils

Belgium have kept clean sheets in five of their last six outings, with a 2-2 draw with England the only exception, and are fancied to blank these opponents.

Only Portugal and France conceded fewer goals in qualifying than Belgium and Slovakia may find themselves outclassed in this one.

The Red Devils beat Luxembourg 3-0 in their final warm up game and a repeat of that scoreline looks to have a decent chance against a team that were beaten 2-0 by Austria recently.

Leandro Trossard netted 17 times for Arsenal in all competitions this season, is likely to start on the right flank for his nation, and could be overpriced to get on the scoresheet in this one.