Belgium vs Canada Prediction
23rd November 2022
22:00 Qatar Time/19:00 GMT
Ahmad bin Ali Stadium, Al Rayyan
Current Form (Last Five Matches):
Belgium
Egypt
2-1 (N)
Netherlands
1-0 (A)
Wales
2-1 (H)
Poland
1-0 (A)
Wales
1-1 (A)
25.09.22
27.09.22
22.09.22
14.06.22
11.06.22
Canada
Japan
2-1 (N)
Bahrain
2-2 (A)
Uruguay
2-0 (N)
Qatar
2-0 (H)
Honduras
2-1 (A)
17.11.22
11.11.22
27.09.22
23.09.22
14.06.22
Belgium vs Canada Prediction Match Overview
In the second encounter in Group F, 2nd ranked Belgium come up against a Canadian side who beat off competition from Mexico and the USA to top the CONCACAF Octagonal final qualification round.
Belgium come into their group opener on the back of some mixed form. A heavy 4-1 home defeat at the hands of their arch-rivals the Netherlands was immediately followed up by a 6-1 demolition of Poland. A 1-1 draw and 2-1 victory over Wales followed a trend of narrow victories, draws and narrow defeats in recent games, with a 1-0 win over Poland preceding a 1-0 defeat to the Netherlands in the return UEFA Nations League fixture and a 2-1 friendly defeat against tournament absentees Egypt, who were perhaps looking to prove a point following their failure to qualify.
Canada have also been in mixed form in their attempt to refine their team ahead of their opening encounter. A 2-0 win over Qatar was immediately followed up by a 2-0 defeat to Uruguay. A surprising 2-2 draw against Bahrain preceded an impressive 2-1 victory over Japan. Ultimately, the Canadians will draw confidence from the manner of their qualification as opposed to performances in ‘meaningless’ friendlies.
Injuries and Suspensions
Will not play: Lukaku (Belgium)
Might not play: Davies (Canada)
Possible Lineups
Analysis
Belgium will likely continue to trust their constituents of the ‘Golden Generation’, and therefore we’re going to see Eden Hazard starting, despite the stop-start nature of his spell at Real Madrid. Employing their now familiar 3-4-2-1 formation, the Belgians will be drawing upon a wealth of experience at the back, with Thibaut Courtois, Toby Alderweireld, Jan Vertonghen and Leander Dendoncker amassing an incredible 392 international caps between them. Belgium have an embarrassment of riches at their disposal in both wingback positions, with Thorgan Hazard, Thomas Meunier, Timothy Castagne and Yannick Carrasco all able to play on both sides and all of them possess a considerable attacking threat.
Axel Witsel and Youri Tielemans form the beating heart of the Belgian team and it’s here that they will look to smother the Canadians in the middle of the park to get their creator-in-chief, the talismanic Kevin De Bruyne on the ball as often as possible. De Bruyne is the complete attacking midfielder and as such the Canadians will view stopping the Manchester City man as priority number one. De Bruyne will look to drive from deep and create as he sees fit, most likely via the overlapping wing-backs in the absence of the direct Romelu Lukaku. His direct replacement, Batshuayi, is more likely to play a target man role to try to unsettle the defence and create space for others.
The Canadians may be missing their bright young star, Bayern Munich’s Alphonso Davies who has suffered a recent hamstring injury. Though Davies has understandably declared himself fit to start, coach John Herdman may opt to look at the bigger picture here. However, Canada are far from a one-man team. Particular areas of strength include their central midfield partnership of Porto’s Stephen Eustaquio and Besiktas’ veteran midfielder Atiba Hutchinson, and they will look to be competitive against Belgium’s celebrated midfield pairing. We can expect both wing backs to effectively form a back 5, with Hutchinson dropping deeper to provide additional protection at times while Eustaquio will be tasked with providing a link from midfield to attack when the opportunity arises.
Canada also have an excellent striker in Lille’s Jonathan David at their disposal. David will press aggressively from the front, attempting to chase down Belgium’s ageing back three and will look to use his pace to get in behind them at every opportunity.
Belgium Key Players
Kevin De Bruyne
Kevin De Bruyne is a key player in the majority of fixtures he is involved in, so it’s perhaps to nobody’s surprise that we’ve gone with the Manchester City man here. Rare are the games where De Bruyne doesn’t have a central influence on the flow of the game, as he constantly looks to get on the ball and drive from deep, creating chances from a variety of positions which involve threaded through-balls and whipped crosses. De Bruyne also possesses a considerable goal threat of his own, primarily from the edge of the area where he often uses defenders as cover to unsight the goalkeeper and also from dead ball situations from which he is considered to be an expert.
Eden Hazard
Despite the stop-start nature of his Real Madrid career following his big-money move from Chelsea, Hazard truly is a World class performer when at the top of his game and can be relied upon to provide individual moments of inspiration which could turn out to be pivotal against a Canadian low block. Another veteran of the Golden Generation, Hazard is attuned to Martinez’s tactics and will likely feel more at home in this setup than he has during his highly publicised struggles with Real Madrid.
Canada Key Players
Alphonso Davies
With the caveat that the Bayern Munich man may be benched, Alphonso Davies could well play an advanced role in this Canadian side, possibly as an attacking midfielder tasked with driving at an ageing Belgian backline. With his searing pace coupled with superb technical ability and excellent decision-making beyond his years, if he isn’t involved then Canada will feel incredibly hard done by, particularly in the absence of a potential link-up with our second key player, Jonathan David.
Jonathan David
David will look to press aggressively from the front in a coordinated effort to upset an ageing Belgian backline, and will also be looking to get in behind them at any opportunity. David’s skillset is perfectly suited for this task, as he is renowned for his proficiency at defending from the front as well as his ability to beat his man. Coupled with a more than decent goalscoring record at all levels, we expect that Belgium will be well aware of the threat that the Lille man poses.
Belgium vs Canada Prediction
While Belgium certainly have all the tools to unlock the Canadian low block, they certainly won’t have it all their own way and the Canadians will be looking to break forward in numbers to hurt them at every opportunity. The midfield battle will be keenly contested and Belgium do have a highly experienced yet ageing back line which could render them vulnerable to balls in behind.