Wales take on Belgium in the second quarter-final of Euro 2016. After another late win for Portugal over Poland in the first quarter-final, the two sides facing off at Lille will know who they could face in the next round.
The Welsh have been one of the teams to watch out for in the competition after topping their group and just about edging out Northern Ireland in their first knockout match. Belgium, on the other hand, had a different route to the knockout round.
The Red Devils lost their first game but have won every other game and have also scored eight goals in three games. Marc Wilmots’ side seem to be hitting form at the right stage of the competition but it is Wales that actually had the better of the clashes during the qualifying stages of Euro 2016 by winning the last time they met.
Live streaming
The Wales vs Belgium clash will take place from 00:30 IST (Saturday) and the live streaming of the game can be seen on SonyLIV. Follow Wales vs Belgium, Euro 2016 Live Score and Commentary with Sportskeeda. The match will be telecasted live on Sony Six and Sony Six HD in India, Fox Sports in the USA and Premier Sports in the UK. The match will be played at the Stade Pierre Mauroy, Lille.
Team news
Wales have a full team to select from and each member of the side was out training on Thursday as Chris Coleman looked to continue their great ride in Euro 2016. The Dragons have no injuries or suspensions and would be looking at Gareth Bale to continue his incredible form for the side as they look to beat Belgium.
Speaking to the media in the press match conference, Coleman was pretty upbeat that his star defender, Ashley Williams would be fit enough to face Belgium.
"It's obviously great news for us. I may be old fashioned, but you need leaders, and we've got a really good dressing room. A really good blend. We've had some tough times, some dark days and huge disappointments, and that's when you judge people. Ash has never disappointed me, on or off the pitch. He's captain of his club and country. I know it's a big honour for him and he wears the armband with passion and pride."
Belgium will be without central defender Thomas Vermaelen who misses out due to suspension but a bigger loss could be the injury to Jan Vertonghen. The Tottenham defender picked up an ankle injury in training and is expected to be out for eight weeks.
A major worry for the side is the availability of Eden Hazard who did pick up a slight knock and might not be able to take part in the game.
Marc Wilmots spoke about Vertonghen’s injury before the match:
"It was one of those moments when fate or chance comes into play. Jan has had the injury before, and immediately said it's over. For him and for us that's obviously a setback. I think his recovery time will be six to eight weeks. Jan is an experienced and important player. We already lost [Vincent] Kompany, [Thomas] Vermaelen is suspended, so that is tricky for us. I can now choose from [Laurent] Ciman, [Jordan] Lukaku, [Jason] Denayer, one older and two younger players. I will have to think about it tonight to decide what is best for us."
Probable line-ups
Wales: Hennessey; Gunter, Chester, Williams, Davies, Taylor; Allen, Ledley; Ramsey, Bale; Robson-Kanu.
Belgium: Courtois; Meunier, Alderweireld, Denayer, J Lukaku; Witsel, Nainggolan; Carrasco, De Bruyne, Hazard; R Lukaku.
Form guide (all competitions, most recent first)
Wales: W-W-L-W-L
Belgium: W-W-W-L-W
The 2-1 loss to England was probably the biggest blip the Welsh have had in recent games and that loss too came in the last minute as Daniel Sturridge broke the Dragons’ defence. Chris Coleman’s side have won three of their last five games and will look to replicate the performance against Russia against the Belgians.
Belgium have been on fire recently and their attack finally seems to be clicking. Eight goals in their last three games will give them a lot of confidence as they face Wales in this knockout tie.
Head to head
There have been 12 previous meetings between the two sides and there really is not much to choose between them. Wales have won four of the 12 games while Belgium have won five.
Even when it comes to goals being scored, there really isn’t much to separate the two sides as the Welsh have scored 17 in their 12 games while Belgium have notched up 16.
Gareth Bale was the match winner when both these sides met the last time around and Welsh fans will expect the Real Madrid star to come up with the goods this time also.
Match prediction
Wales might be living the dream at the moment but they could be in for a rude awakening as they look to take on a Belgium side that are hitting the right gears at the right time of the competition.
The Red Devils looks ruthless in attack and even though they could be without a couple of key players, they should have enough in the team to beat Wales and progress to the semi-finals of Euro 2016.
Wales 1-2 Belgium
