Republic of Ireland vs Belgium Predictions

• Belgium have won eight and drawn two of their last ten matches.
• Both teams have scored in just three of Ireland’s last nine games.
• Belgium have kept five clean sheets in their last seven matches.

Belgium still a force to respect

Ireland are in a state of flux with John O’Shea taking over from Stephen Kenny as manager for their two games this week against Belgium and Switzerland, and the first of those outings on Saturday looks a tough one.

Gibraltar are the only team that the Boys in green have beaten in their last nine matches and while their visitors will be without some of their biggest names – Kevin De Bruyne is unavailable – they look likely to leave Dublin with a win.

Belgium were disappointing at the World Cup and it looks as if their golden generation of players have been unable to make a breakthrough at a major tournament, but they were still unbeaten in eight Euro 2024 qualification games, conceding just four times in those matches against Austria, Sweden, Azerbaijan and Estonia, so Ireland have a tough task on their hands.

Ireland may be unable to threaten

Caretaker O’Shea could elect to go for it, but those wins over Gibraltar have been the only occasions in their last nine games that Ireland have scored more than once and they may not be able to threaten the Belgian defence, who have been breached in just two of their last seven outings.

Four Irish clean sheets in 18 games does not bode well at the other end either and it could pay to support the visitors to win to nil, while a 2-0 Belgian success may be of interest to those looking for a correct-score bet.