Football
A weakened Belgium will look to snap Italy’s winning streak. But the game won’t be broken until the second half
At 21:00 on Friday, the Allianz Arena will host a clash between two undefeated teams who will be looking to reach the semi-finals of Euro 2020. However, neither selection has had as easy a path to the quarter-finals as many would have expected.
On Friday, 21:00, the Allianz Arena will host a clash between two undefeated teams who will be looking to reach the semi-finals of Euro 2020. However, neither selection has had as easy a path to the quarter-finals as many would have expected.
Italy, who made it through the group stage without conceding a single goal with a 7-0 scoreline, saw the eighth-final against Austria as more of a formality and many thought that this match would be clearly in the Italian team’s favour.
However, the opposite was true and the team around cannonballer Ciro Immobile made their way to the quarter-finals quite difficult when the match had to be decided in extra time. But Italy realised what was really at stake and won the game 2-1.
Belgium, who had to go through the Euro 2016 winners, had it no easier. Roberto Martínez’s side won after Thorgan Hazard scored from outside the sixteen in the first half.
In the 2nd half, you could say that Belgium were just controlling the lead and after the final pressure from the Portuguese subsided, they could rejoice in their progress to the quarter-finals.
In this match, it is quite difficult to predict who could advance. What is easier, however, is to predict in which half more goals will be scored. And that’s why we can expect a goalless first half.
Italy confirmed in their match against Austria that if they face an opponent with a solid defence, which is not the case with any of the opponents in the Italian group, they have a hard time getting into their opponent’s sixteen.
This cannot be said about Belgium, but if we look at their statistics from the first half, for example, in the match against Denmark or just against Portugal, they managed only 1 shot on target.
In the first mentioned match, the Belgians even scored in the first half. In the match against Finland, they were better and managed to produce 3 shots, but not one of them ended in a goal.
Betting tip | More goals in the 2nd half
Source: UEFA
