Belgium v Ukraine: De Bruyne brilliance to keep Red Devils going | OneFootball

Euro 2024

Kevin De Bruyne's brilliance has kept Belgium's hopes alive

Abigail Davies previews Belgium v Ukraine, looking through the Betfair markets to find the best value tips, including Kevin De Bruyne to score or provide an assist...

Belgium v UkraineWednesday 26 June, 17:00Live on BBC1, 17:00

For the first time in European Championship history, all four teams in a group are level on points going into the final round of fixtures with only three goals separating Romania at the top of the Group E table and Ukraine who are currently rock bottom with Belgium up next for Serhiy Rebrov's side.

Red Devils respond well

Having been defeated by Slovakia in their opener, eyebrows were raised as people started to question whether this hugely talented crop of Belgian players would again underperform in a major tournament and fail to reach their potential on the big stage but with a point to prove, they delivered a largely dominant display in Cologne with Jeremy Doku again delighting with his quick bursts forward and effortless trickery tying defences up in knots as he dribbled his way into dangerous positions.

At the age of 32, this may well be Kevin De Bruyne's final chance to pick up some silverware with his national side and he did everything he could to ensure their stay at Euro 2024 is extended beyond the group stage, with a masterclass against Romania.

More often than not, when he plays well, Belgium come out of a match with a positive result. His importance to The Red Devils was underlined once again as they knew a victory was essential. There was a lot of pressure to perform and many were keen to see how they would react to a first ever defeat under Domenico Tedesco and the Manchester City man was at his breathtaking best, his distribution immense, spraying the ball around with great effect, galvanising his teammates and he could very easily have scored a hat-trick, a true captain's performance. I'm backing him to score or provide an assist against Ukraine at 10/11.

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Lukaku's luck is bound to change

As for Romelu Lukaku, it was another game, another goal ruled out by VAR. The striker looked very impressive with his back to goal, his hold-up play was decent throughout the match and I'm backing him and Kevin De Bruyne to combine for four or more shots on target in this one at 15/8.

Ukraine dug deep

Many people's pick to be the dark horses at Euro 2024, Ukraine also kept their hopes of extending their stay at this tournament alive by producing a spectacular comeback to secure just their second win in their last 10 Euro group stage fixtures. However, despite boasting a talent-packed squad, I'm yet to be convinced that if Belgium can replicate Saturday's display, this young Ukrainian side will be able to keep them at bay. The goal they conceded on Friday was exceptionally poor.

Clearly still learning and developing in a lot of areas, Rebrov's men had to show immense character and resilience to overturn a 1-0 deficit against Slovakia, trailing in just about every metric as their opponents enjoyed more of the ball and created more chances but the spirit shown to come away with all three points was decent.

Much like Lukaku, Ukraine's danger man up top Artem Dovbyk is still looking to put his stamp one this tournament and La Liga's top scorer last season could well be presented with chances if the likes of Mykhailo Mudryk can use his pace to get in behind Belgium's at times shaky defence.

Ukraine have now played 13 Euro matches without keeping a single clean sheet and I don't see them recording one in their final group game. I like the look of Belgium to win, have the most corners in each half and the most shots on target in each half at 9/1.

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