Nations League – Wales vs Belgium: Betting preview with prediction

Wales will be looking to get back to winning ways when they take on Belgium in the Nations League on Saturday evening.

The Dragons booked their place at the 2022 World Cup finals after beating Ukraine earlier this month but they face a battle to avoid dropping to League B in the Nations League.

Rob Page’s men lost their Group A4 opener to Poland before crashing to an agonising 2-1 defeat to Holland on Wednesday night. Rhys Norrington-Davies looked to have salvaged an important point after equalising in the 92nd minute but Wout Weghorst scored deep into stoppage time to consign Wales to defeat.

Belgium head to Cardiff sitting second in the group after bouncing back from their opening loss to Holland with a resounding 6-1 victory over Poland in midweek. Kevin De Bruyne was on the scoresheet to held Roberto Martinez’s side come from behind to claim all three points.

Betting odds

It will come as no surprise that Belgium are the favourites to claim all three points this weekend. Bookmakers such as bet365 are pricing the Red Devils at odds of around 17/20 to win in Cardiff. Wales can be backed at 16/5 to claim a shock win while the draw is available at 5/2. 

Gareth Bale is 21/10 to score at any time for Wales, which looks like a good bet. De Bruyne will be the obvious dangerman if he starts and the Manchester City playmaker is 11/2 to open the scoring in this match.

A 2-1 Belgium win looks good value at 7/1 and we combine the bets to add De Bruyne as first scorer in a 2-1 win, the odds increase to 56/1.

Team news

Wales are set to welcome Gareth Bale back into the starting eleven after he was rested in midweek. Aaron Ramsey, Ethan Ampadu, Joe Allen, Kieffer Moore and Neco Williams are also expected to feature.

However, Page has concerns in goal as Wayne Hennessey is a doubt with a knock while Danny Ward is out with a knee injury. Adam Davies is on stand-by to deputise between the sticks.

As for Belgium, Romelu Lukaku remains on the sidelines with an ankle injury that kept him out of the win over Poland. Youri Tielemas could be rested along with Jan Vertonghen. 

The likes of Leandro Trossard, Thorgan Hazard and Dedryck Boyata are expected to start for the visitors.

Prediction

Wales 1-2 Belgium: The Welsh are likely to give a good account of themselves on home soil against what will be a weakened Belgium side. Bale has the quality to cause any defence problems so Page will be looking to the Real Madrid star for moments of magic.

However, Belgium have huge depth in their squad and can cope with making a number of changes, so they should still have enough quality to edge it in Cardiff. 

Nations League – Wales vs Belgium: Betting preview with prediction

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