Belgium beat Montenegro 2-0 on Wednesday to make it 14 games unbeaten (W9, D5) and 13 without defeat for manager Domenico Tedesco (W9, D4) who took charge following the 2022 FIFA World Cup. The Red Devils were one of six nations to go through qualification for Euro 2024 unbeaten (W6, D2), and with that midweek victory, it’s now four clean sheets in their last five outings, not conceding the opening goal in any of those five.
Beaten only once on home soil since September 2016, FIFA’s #3 ranked nation look in good shape as they attempt to better two consecutive quarter-final finishes at the European Championships, and in this last warm-up game before heading to Germany, they will be confident of extending that phenomenal home record having lost just one of 18 previous H2Hs with Luxembourg (W14, D3).
The Red Lions missed out on a spot at this summer’s tournament having been beaten in the play-offs by Georgia, though that comes as no surprise given that no nation has competed in more qualifying campaigns for a Euros without ever making it into the finals. Accordingly, this will be their last friendly encounter before switching focus to the start of the Nations League restart in September.
Luxembourg (#87) lost 3-0 to France in Metz on Wednesday, where an already torrid run was extended to just one win in 16 friendlies (D4, L11) dating back to June 2019. They’ve also conceded the opening goal in their last three games (W1, L2) and have only beaten lowly Liechtenstein in their last five on the road (D1, L3).
Key battle: Romelu Lukaku was the top scorer in Euro 2024 qualifying with 14, and Tedesco has confirmed he’ll play on Saturday – he also netted a hat-trick against Luxembourg back in 2014. Christopher Martins has been booked in five of his last eight appearances for the visitors and escaped a caution in midweek despite committing three fouls.
Hot stat: There have been nine friendlies between this pair previously. Seven have seen 2+ total goals scored, with five of the nine meetings producing 4+ total goals.
Thanks for these friendlies.