Belgium vs Republic Ireland UEFA Euro - June 18, 2016

Belgium vs Ireland Republic - Competition: European Championship

Belgium team will attempt to get their Euro 2016 campaign back on track and they are now under fierce pressure to compensate for the 0-2 defeat at the hands of Italy in their Euro 2016 opening match. They have won 13 and lost only three of the last 19 matches in all competitions (D3). Anyway, they still look too young and unexperienced for this kind of competitions.Romelu Lukaku and Kevin De Bruyne are both expected to be not named in Wilmots' starting line-up, as they will be probably replaced by Divock Origi and Ferreira Carrasco. Eden Hazard is likely to retain his starting berth while Dries Mertens and Marouane Fellaini are in contention for the remaining spot in the offensivie midfield trio. The back four of Ciman, Alderweireld, Vermaelen and Vertonghen will be confirmed in the starting XI.

Ireland Republic team were the better side and extremely unlucky not to have overcome Sweden team in their opener in Paris on Monday, drawing 1-1. They have lost just three of 19 matches in all competition since the start of the qualifiers back in September, 2014, having collected 8 wins and 8 draws.
Jonathan Walters is not expected to be fit after his Achilles problem flared up in the previous match. Veteran striker Robbie Keane will replace him up front and no other changes are expected in the starting lineup. This means that Wes Hoolahan will play behind the two forwards with James McCarthy, Glenn Whelan and Jeff Hendrick in the middle of the park.

Probable lineups:

Belgium: Courtois – Alderweireld, Denayer, Vertonghen, J. Lukaku – Witsel, Fellaini – Carrasco, de Bruyne, Hazard – R. Lukaku.

Ireland: Randolph – Coleman, O’Shea, Clark, Brady – McCarthy, Whelan, Hendrick – Hoolahan – Walters, Long.

Date: Saturday, June 18, 2016

Kick-off Time: 14:00 BST - 15:00 CET

Venue: Stade Matmut-Atlantique, Bordeaux

You can watch the match here: Link 1 , Link 2 [Live Scores]

 

Categories: UEFA Euro 2016