21st Jun 2014 | World Cup
Belgium v Russia Tip: Scoreline Prediction
Romelu Lukaku failed to touch the ball inside Algeria's penalty area at any time during Belgium's first match. Marc Wilmots needs a big improvement despite his team's late goals.
Both these teams looked distinctly lacklustre for long periods of their opening matches until substitutes livened them up.
Belgium were staring down the barrel of a humiliating defeat to Algeria before Fellaini and Mertens came off the bench to grab vital goals. It was a similar story for Russia who trailed South Korea after a goalkeeping howler, but then one sub Alan Dzagoev had a shot saved only for another sub Aleksandr Kerzhakov to snaffle up the rebound.
It’s hard to know how many changes the two managers will make to their starting line-ups as a consequence, but both would probably would be happy enough with a draw at full-time. For Belgium that would mean 4 points with a winnable clash against South Korea to come. For Russia, they would expect a victory over Algeria to be enough see them into the last 16 as well.
1-1 is the most likely score at best odds of 13/2 (Betfred) but I would recommend taking the 6/1 with WilliamHill who will refund your stake if the match ends 0-0 instead.
Odds correct at time of publishing: 11:34 21st Jun, 2014 but subject to change
