Euro 2020: Finland vs Belgium match preview- team news, lineups

, the world's top-ranked team, has won both of their Euro 2020 games so far, getting 6 points from these games, and will look to keep their perfect record going against Finland today.

With enough points to qualify for the last 16 with a game to spare, Roberto Martinez's side can now claim first place in Group B with a draw or a win, while their Finnish opponents must win to advance.

Finland vs Belgium match preview

Although there is a huge class difference between the Eagle-owls and the Belgians, there has been nothing between the teams in their 11 historic games to date.

Before we get into the article let’s take a look at the group and the standings of this section of the Euro 2020 tournament.

• Group B:

  Denmark, Finland, Belgium, Russia

Regarded as one of the toughest groups besides group F which consists of France, Germany, Hungary, and Portugal, it has gone hard on Denmark but has been kind to Finland as they won their first match with very little effort and due to Eriksen’s injury.

Form analysis

Belgium, the team that is on the top of the list with 6 points has proven to be a tough-to-beat opponent. However, Finland needs the 3 points to proceed from the group stage of Euro as they are side to side in the group with Russia who also has 3 points. And is going to face Denmark.

Let’s take a look at their performance before this match.

Belgium

Belgium has walked to consecutive away triumphs over Russia in Saint Petersburg and then Denmark in an emotional Copenhagen last time out, living up to their pre-tournament position as one of the favorites.

's outstanding substitute performance spurred his team to come back from an early deficit at Parken Stadium, while fans and players paid respect to injured midfielder Christian Eriksen, who is still recovering from his mid-game cardiac attack last weekend.

Finland

Despite losing by the same scoreline as their disputed 1-0 triumph over

, the Finns are level on three points with the Russians going into the final round.

As a result, Markku Kanerva's side will advance with a win - or even a draw if Russia loses against Denmark in the other Group B match, which will be played simultaneously. Finland might win the group if they pull off a spectacular win over Belgium and Russia fails to collect all three points in an unlikely dream scenario.

Finland vs Belgium – head-to-head in all matches

As mentioned before, these two teams have met each other 11 times on the green pitch, most of which resulted in Finland’s victory (4 times). Belgium on the other hand has succeeded to defeat Finland 3 times and managed to get 1 point from the match 4 times.

Although the odds are slighty in Finland’s favor, Belgium’s performance has shown that Belgium has changed a lot from 25 May 1953, when they faced each other for the first time.

Lineups and formation

In this part, we would look at the lineups and possible formations of both teams and will analyze the players that would get the chance to play in this match.

Finland

While their opponents may choose to rotate and include inferior players, Finland will stick with a pretty unchanged roster.

Markku Kanerva may resist the temptation to recall right-back Nikolai Alho, who overcame an ankle sprain to make the bench.

While Jukka Raitala was forced to leave late in the first encounter owing to a calf ailment, he is fit to return in a tough backguard, which will be protected by all-action Ranger’s shining star and talent Glen Kamara.

Finland probable lineup:

Hradecky; O'Shaughnessy, Arajuuri, Toivio; Uronen, Kamara, Sparv, Kauko, Raitala; Pohjanpalo,

Belgium

Belgium may make numerous changes now that they have qualified, including giving extra minutes to talisman Kevin De Bruyne, who improved his recovery from facial fractures in Denmark and will play again today.

However, wing-back Timothy Castagne's season has come to an end after a head clash against Russia left him with a similar injury, thus Thomas Meunier will likely play on the right side.

Head coach Roberto Martinez has expressed his desire to give midfield Axel Witsel and injury-plagued captain Eden Hazard starts in order to develop match sharpness ahead of upcoming tougher tests.

Belgium probable lineup:

Courtois;

, Dendoncker, Vertonghen; Meunier, De Bruyne, Witsel, T. Hazard; E. Hazard, Lukaku, Carrasco

Prediction

Based on what we have said to this until this point, Belgium won’t play aggressively because they are sure that they have qualified for the next stage of Euro 2020, but they are willing to keep their winning streak.

Finland, however, desperately needs those 3 points to have a higher chance of qualifying. Have in mind that Russia vs Denmark match result is very crucial and will highly affect the faith of Finland. Having mentioned all the affecting factors, our guess is that Belgium will win the match against Finland with the result of 1-0.

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