Spain U21 vs Belgium U21 Predictions

Spain’s chances of winning the Under 21 European Championships were dealt a blow at the weekend, as they were beaten 3-1 by hosts Italy. There’s only one automatic place in the semi-finals available in each group. That means the Spanish face an uphill battle, as they look to book a spot in the semi-finals. They face a must-win clash with Belgium on Wednesday, but will the 2017 runners-up get the result they need?

Belgium were also beaten at the weekend, going down in a surprise 3-2 defeat to Poland. This group don’t seem to have the star quality of the current Belgian senior set-up, which is currently their golden generation. While the Red Devils push to win things at the highest level, they appear to be also-rans in the Under 21 Euros. With one defeat to their name already, Belgium could be out of contention by the end of Wednesday’s meeting.

Spain are expected to bounce back in this clash, having brought one of the strongest squads to the Euros. They’ve got brilliant depth across the pitch, so they have multiple options to freshen up their side ahead of this clash. Given how much talent they’ve brought to Italy, we expect Spain to improve their display in this clash. On top of that, the Spanish are boosted by the fact that they’re taking on a Belgium side who clearly struggled at the back in their opening match.

Belgium conceded three times in their last clash, which is the fourth game in a row where they’ve conceded three goals. That is a mark of their issues in defence, while they’re going up against a Spanish side who are gifted going forward. The only real issue for Spain is their defensive vulnerabilities, which were on full display in the defeat to Italy. Given that Belgium were still able to score twice in their defeat to Poland, we think that the Red Devils will find the net in this clash.

Spain averaged 3.1 goals per game in qualifying, while they should expect to rack up at least a couple of goals here. However, they also conceded a goal per game on the way to Italy, which has left them with issues at the back. Overall, we see this being a high scoring game. Given that Belgium have lost their last three games while Spain are desperate to return to winning ways, we’re backing a Spain win and over 2.5 goals in the match.