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On Saturday, July 14th we see the third place playoff in the 2018 World Cup take place, as Belgium take on England. Both teams have already played together in the group stages of the World Cup where Belgium ran out as the winner.
Belgium were an “on paper” team that really came together in the World Cup and it was disappointing to see them go out. After winning their group in spectacular fashion, they had that fantastic game where they came back from 2-0 down to beat Japan 3-2. They then held up strong against a Brazilian attack in the beginning to beat the South Americans 2-1. However they succumbed to France 1-0 in the semi finals.
Martinez did his best tactically but the France defense is a very tight one. I was concerned for them after they were exposed against Argentina but they did a great job against Belgium and guys like Kante and Pogba were excellent in their roles.
England had a similar group stage to Belgium and although they lost against Belgium many felt they “won” by getting the easier road to the finals. After a penalty win over Columbia they beat a lacklustre Swedish team, only to lose 2-1 to Croatia in extra time.
Regardless of your thoughts on England – and being Scottish I bloody hate them – it was tough to see Gareth Southgate on the losing end and he’s earned a lot of respect. One thing I kept thinking over and over was how England just aren’t a good team. This is one of the worst English teams I’ve seen – yet Southgate was able to cover their weaknesses and almost book them a spot in the final.
They focused so much more on set pieces and it worked wonders for them. That’s the sign of an excellent manager and honestly as someone who doesn’t like England – I’m jealous of them as they have someone who can take them far. Although what a horrific 2nd half performance that was against Croatia. Just no sort of game plan whatsoever.
England vs Belgium Betting Odds:
Belgium To Win: 2.20
England To Win: 3.30
Draw: 3.75
(Odds on this page are correct as of 2018/07/12 7:23:19 PM EST but are subject to change)
Third Place Playoff Analysis:
Rather than go by the teams this time out and analyzing each one I thought we’d analyze the third place playoffs of the World Cup to see if there is a trend. As the fact is this is a game that doesn’t really matter and you have to wonder how much each team cares about it.
1998: Croatia beat Netherlands 2-1.
2002: Turkey beat South Korea 3-2. 3 goals in the first 13 minutes in that one.
2006: Germany thumped Portugal 3-1 after a goalless first half.
2010: Germany beat Uruguay 3-2.
2014: Brazil clearly didn’t care after the 7-1 defeat by Germany and lost 3-0 to the Netherlands.
So an obvious trend there is that they’re mostly competitive games regardless and they all went over 2.5 goals.
Looking at this one – I’d think both teams want to win it. Belgium have a lot of strong team chemistry while England will want to do something for Southgate and go out on a winning note. After losing to Belgium in the group stages especially you’d think England would want to set the record right.
Belgium vs England Betting Tips:
I wanted to bet Over 2.5 goals based on the trend however the odds for it are about 1.60. Instead I am going to go with England to win for 3 units. While they are not a team that have impressed I think they’ll want to push that much more in this one and it will mean more to them. You can bet that at https://www.Bovada.lv.
