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Belgium will face Israel at the Nagyerdei Stadion on Friday in the opening game of their 2024-25 UEFA Nations League campaign. The Red Devils endured an underwhelming European Championship campaign in the summer and will hope they can find better luck elsewhere this week.
They were beaten 1-0 by France in their most recent outing and were second-best for much of the game before an own goal from veteran defender Jan Vertonghen late in the game ultimately sealed their fate.
Israel, meanwhile, have had a mixed start to life under new head coach Ran Ben Simon, suffering a 3-0 defeat to Hungary in their first game under the 53-year-old back in June. They then picked up their first win under Ben Simon days later, beating Belarus 4-0 at the Szusza Ferenc Stadion in Hungary.
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The Chosen Team are set to make their League A debut this week and will be targeting a positive start to proceedings before locking horns with Italy in their second group game next Monday.
Belgium vs Israel Head-to-Head and Key Numbers
- There have been seven meetings between the two teams. Belgium have won six of those games while Israel have won the other.
- The two sides last faced off in a European Championship qualifying clash back in October 2015 which the Red Devils won 3-1 featuring goals from Dries Mertens, Kevin De Bruyne and Eden Hazard.
- The Chosen Team have managed just one clean sheet in their six games in this fixture.
- Belgium were ranked sixth in the latest FIFA rankings and now sit 72 places above their weekend opponents.
Belgium vs Israel Prediction
Belgium are on a run of back-to-back winless outings and have won just one of their last four matches. Despite their recent struggles, Domenico Tedesco's men are the superior side ahead of Friday's game and will head into the match as overwhelming favorites.
Israel's latest result ended a run of back-to-back defeats and they will now be looking to build on that this weekend. They have, however, struggled in this fixture of late and could see defeat here.
Prediction: Belgium 2-0 Israel
Belgium vs Israel Betting Tips
Tip 1 - Result: Belgium to win
Tip 2 - Goals - Over/under 2.5 - Under 2.5 goals (Five of the Red Devils' last six matches have produced fewer than 2.5 goals)
Tip 3 - Both teams to score: NO (Both sides have found the back of the net in just two of their previous seven matchups)
