Belgium vs Tunisia FIFA World Cup 2018 – Lineups, Predictions & Stats Preview 23 June 2018
The Red Devils are unbeaten in their last 20 games and on Matchday 2 they will face Tunisia. If they want to top group G they must get the 3 points here as on the last group game they go against England. Harry Kane and his teammates had a difficult time against Tunisia on Matchday 1 but managed to steal the win with a late winner, so Belgium must be at their top game and should not expect an easy win.
Belgium Probable Lineups and Stats
Chelsea’s Thibaut Courtois will certainly start as the goalkeeper. Tottenham’s duo of Toby Alderweireld and Jan Vertonghen will most likely start from the right back and back left respectively as the Scottish based Dedryck will marshal the central defence. The midfield will probably host Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne and Axel Witsel, who will be at the centre to coordinate the possession. At the left flunk, Ferreira Carrasco (booked in their first game) will be replaced by Tottenham’s Mousa Dembele, while Thomas Meunier will start as the right winger. The three-man attack will feature the Captain, Eden Hazard and Napoli’s Dries Mertens who will be playing behind Manchester United’s Romelu Lukaku. With their current form in their run-up to this competition and a 62% ball possession from their opening game, their opponent will have to work extra hard.Tunisia Probable Lineups and Stats
In goal for Tunisia, Farouk Moustapha will remain the first choice, as the injured Mouez Hassen is still not fit to return. The four-man defence will have Dylan Bronn on the right, Ben Youssef and Yassine Meriah play in the middle while Egyptian based Ali Maaloul man the back left. Based on the quality of their opponent, Nabil Maaloul should switch in favour of the 4-2-3-1 formation. This will either match their flow or improve ball possession.
In such a formation, Ferjani Sassi will fall back to help Ellyes Skhiri to counter Eden Hazard and Dries Mertens as Anice Badri, Naim Sliti and Ben Youssef will complete the offensive midfield, as they help Saber Khalifa to look for goals. The Carthage Eagles will have to work on their midfield and capacity if they want to improve their chances of progressing to the tournament’s next stage.
Belgium v Tunisia – Head to Head
These two teams have met 3 times, in 1992 friendly where Tunisia were victors, in the 2002 World Cup edition where they drew 1-1 and the June 2014 where Belgium won by a solitary goal. The next game would be a tiebreaker.
Tunisia has qualified to the tournament 4 times, with their best outing being 1978, despite being eliminated at the group stages. This year’s edition is Belgium 12th with the 1986th being their best so far. It is also arguably one of the strongest sides this year’s tournament.
Expert Tip
Belgium has won their previous 6 games at the FIFA World Cup. There have been over 2.5 goals scored in 9 of Belgium’s previous 11 meetings at this tournament. Belgium have scored at least two goals in their previous six encounters in World Cup. Moreover, Lukaku is also a contender for the Golden Boot at this edition. We think that both teams will surprise us with an incredible game. Tunisia will try everything for a victory, but we think it will not be possible for them. We are going to see an effective game for both sides. The game is possible to be over 2.5 goals.
Interestingly, The Red Devils are undefeated in their previous 12 games and also they did two draws against Portugal (0-0) and Mexico with an astonishing result (3:3). We expect to see a very attacking game by the Red Devils which will bring them great success. This will be the second victory for the Belgians if they play the same way they played against Panama. We do not expect a rough or violent game, so our second tip is that there will be less than 3.5 cards in the match.
Interesting Facts and Information
- Tunisia haven’t won in their last 4 games.
- Belgium haven’t lost in their last 20 games.
- Belgium have a winning streak of 3 games.
- Belgium wins 1st half in 45% of their games, Tunisia in 10% of their games.
- Belgium’s recent performance is better than Tunisia’s.
- In World Cup, Belgium has better performance than Tunisia.
- The winner of their last game was Belgium.
- Belgium scores 3.44 goals when playing at home and Tunisia scores 2 goals when playing away (on average).
- When Belgium leads 1-0 at home, they win in 85% of their games.
- When Belgium is down 0-1 home, they win 100% of their games.
- When Tunisia is down 1-0 away, they win 20% of their games.
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