Sports Blog 11/06/2015: Euro 2016 Qualifiers Preview – Wales vs Belgium, Friday 12th June 2015

It’s a very busy weekend for European football, with the Euro 2016 qualifiers at the half way point; Wales will hope to overcome an impressive Belgium on Friday at 7.45pm on Sky Sports 5.

Currently both on 11 points in Group B, only goal difference is separating the two sides with Belgium on +12 to Wales’ +5. Just behind the two top sides is Israel on 9 points; a draw in Cardiff, and a win for the Israelis against Bosnia & Herzegovina (who they beat 3-0 back in October) would leave the top three on 12 points each and create a very tense scenario for the final 5 games of qualifying.

Their first meeting back in November ended in a 0-0 draw; not exciting at a glance, but an impressive performance from Wales that saw they withstand the intense pressure Belgium can cause upfront and maintain an unbeaten run in qualifying so far. Their last game at the end of March then saw Wales trounce Israel 3-0 and pit them level on points with Belgium, with fantastic performances from the usual suspects of Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey.

Welsh wonder Bale is coming off of a rather frustrating season at Real Madrid that yielded no silverware and the constant (negative) attention of the Spanish press. Yet he is a regular star for his country, with 4 goals in qualifying so far, and sits at 6/1 fixed odds to score first with a Super Mega Player Goal Minutes spread of 21-26. Ramsey, on the other hand, will hopefully for Wales still be buoyed by Arsenal’s FA Cup trouncing of Aston Villa, and goes into Friday’s game with a Super Mega PGM spread of 8-11 and fixed odds to score first of 12/1.



Bale and Ramsey will have to be firing on all cylinders if Wales want to get more than a point against Belgium. Like the Welsh, Les Diables Rouges are unbeaten in qualifying; in fact, they haven’t lost a game since they went out in the World Cup to Argentina, with only draws against Bosnia & Herzegovina and Wales besmirching an otherwise perfect record. Most recently Belgium put in an impressive performance that saw them beat rivals France 4-3 win in Paris last Sunday.

Fellaini got 2 in that game, and is at 8/1 to score first with a Super Mega PGM spread of 13-17. PFA Player of the Year Eden Hazard is 11/2 to score first with a Super Mega PGM of 22-27, whilst Lukaku has a spread of 23-28. And Christian Benteke, revitalised at Aston Villa since the appointment of Tim Sherwood, is favourite to score first at 5/1, with the highest Super Mega Player Goal Minutes spread of 26-31.

It is Belgium’s front line that makes them such a threat, and has helped them put 6 past Andorra and 5 past Cyprus; easy teams, sure, but still an intimidatingly high score count. If Wales are to succeed they will have to once again close out the Belgium attack, and hope that home support can will Bale and co. to an early goal. However, our Spreadex traders fancy Marc Wilmots’ side, at a Belgium/Wales Goal Supremacy sports spread betting quote of 0.65-0.85 with a Total Goals spread of 2.3-2.5.