In this round of the Nations League, Belgium and France are taking turns battling with Italy for the top spot in the group. It seems the Belgian side, under Domenico Tedesco, are struggling to compete with top-tier opponents without their leading stars, as has been evident in recent results.
After a straightforward 3:1 victory over Israel, Belgium conceded four goals over 180 minutes against France (0:2) and Italy (2:2). Last Thursday, they were already two goals down by the 24th minute, and it was only thanks to Lorenzo Pellegrini's dismissal that they managed to avoid a defeat, as their opponents fell off physically. Currently, Domenico Tedesco lacks a cohesive defensive line: against Italy, Belgium faced 1.76 xGA from just four shots on target.
The French national team kicked off their October international campaign with a composed 4:1 victory over Israel. Despite Kylian Mbappé's injury, Didier Deschamps was able to field a fresh lineup that saw Randal Kolo Muani, Ousmane Dembélé, Christopher Nkunku, and Michael Olise taking turns in the attacking role. The clear difference in attacking threat, demonstrated by an xG of 1.32 compared to 0.09, and 15 shots to 1, shows that the World Cup runners-up are capable of increasing their attacking power.
A month ago, Belgium failed to match France in their 0:2 defeat (0.82 vs 2.70). In Brussels, even the home crowd's support is unlikely to be enough to bridge the gap in form between the two sides.
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Domenico Tedesco
|
coach | ||
| Player | Matches | Goals | |
|
In squad
|
|||
Koen Casteels
|
gk. | 17 | -12 |
Maarten Vandevoordt
|
gk. | 0 | 0 |
Ortwin De Wolf
|
gk. | 0 | 0 |
Timothy Castagne
|
df. | 50 | 2 |
Wout Faes
|
df. | 22 | 0 |
Arthur Nicolas Theate
|
df. | 21 | 0 |
Zeno Koen Debast
|
df. | 13 | 0 |
Maxim De Cuyper
|
df. | 4 | 1 |
Sebastiaan Bornauw
|
df. | 4 | 0 |
Koni De Winter
|
df. | 1 | 0 |
Matte Smets
|
df. | 0 | 0 |
Youri Tielemans
|
mf. | 73 | 9 |
Orel Mangala
|
mf. | 21 | 0 |
Charles Marc S. De Ketelaere
|
mf. | 19 | 2 |
|
Aster Vranckx
|
mf. | 8 | 0 |
Arne Engels
|
mf. | 1 | 0 |
Leandro Trossard
|
fw. | 38 | 10 |
Jérémy Doku
|
fw. | 29 | 2 |
|
Loïs Openda
|
fw. | 23 | 2 |
Dodi Lukebakio
|
fw. | 21 | 2 |
Saint-Cyr Johan Bakayoko
|
fw. | 16 | 1 |
Cyril Ngonge
|
fw. | 1 | 0 |
Malick Martin Fofana
|
fw. | 1 | 0 |
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Didier Deschamps
|
coach | ||
| Player | Matches | Goals | |
|
In squad
|
|||
Mike Maignan
|
gk. | 24 | -14 |
Alphonse Areola
|
gk. | 5 | -3 |
Brice Samba
|
gk. | 3 | -4 |
|
Lucas Digne
|
df. | 48 | 0 |
Jules Kounde
|
df. | 36 | 0 |
|
Theo Hernandez
|
df. | 34 | 2 |
|
William Saliba
|
df. | 23 | 0 |
Ibrahima Konaté
|
df. | 18 | 0 |
Jonathan Clauss
|
df. | 14 | 2 |
Wesley Fofana
|
df. | 1 | 0 |
|
Loïc Badé
|
df. | 0 | 0 |
Aurelien Tchouameni
|
mf. | 36 | 3 |
|
Youssouf Fofana
|
mf. | 24 | 3 |
|
Eduardo Camavinga
|
mf. | 21 | 2 |
Matteo Guendouzi
|
mf. | 8 | 2 |
Warren Zaïre-Emery
|
mf. | 5 | 1 |
Kouadio Koné
|
mf. | 2 | 0 |
|
Ousmane Dembélé
|
fw. | 51 | 6 |
Marcus Thuram
|
fw. | 26 | 2 |
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Randal Kolo
|
fw. | 23 | 5 |
|
Christopher Nkunku
|
fw. | 10 | 1 |
|
Bradley Laurent Barcola
|
fw. | 7 | 2 |
Michael Akpovie Olise
|
fw. | 3 | 0 |
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