Belgium (3-0-2) / Spain (4-0-1)
03:00 PM EDT
The Line: Betting Odds: Belgium +425 / Spain -155– Over/Under: 2.5
Spain Preview
Spain finished the group phase of the World Cup with 7 points, with two wins and one draw and were placed 1st in Group H. They are coming off a 1-0 win over Portugal in the round of 16, where they had 55% possession of the ball and 15 total shots, 6 of them on target. They had 88% completed passes, and more expected goals, with 1.68 compared to Portugal’s 0.63.
Spain is averaging 1.80 goals per game, while allowing zero goals per game. They have a +1.8 goal differential, 1.84 average expected goals, 0.32 average expected goals conceded and +1.5 average expected goal differential. They have 65% possession of the ball and 100% save percentage, while having 5 clean sheets.
Mikel Oyarzabal is Spain’s top scorer with 4 goals. Marc Cucurella is Spain’s top passer, with 2 assists.
Belgium Preview
Belgium finished the group phase of the World Cup with 5 points, with one win and two draws and were placed 1st in Group G. They are coming off a 4-1 win over USA in the round of 16, where they had 44% possession of the ball and 15 total shots, 7 of them on target. They had 81% completed passes, and more expected goals, with 2.01 compared to United States’ 0.63.
Belgium is averaging 2.6 goals per game, while allowing one goal per game. They have a +1.6 goal differential, 2.23 average expected goals, 1.10 average expected goals conceded and +1.1 average expected goal differential. They have 54% possession of the ball and 67% save percentage, while having one clean sheet.
Romelu Lukaku is Belgium’s top scorer with 3 goals. Leandro Trossard, Hans Vanaken, Nicolas Raskin are Belgium’s top passers, with 2 assists each.
Belgium vs Spain Prediction
Spain has five wins and one draw in its last six meetings against Belgium and their last two meetings have gone over the total.
In this Belgium vs Spain Prediction, Spain is coming as -155 favorites. Spain has not yet conceded a goal in the World Cup in its five games played and it’s not even about luck, as their expected conceded goals are just 0.32. They will be facing a Belgium squad that one would argue that it had an easier path to the quarterfinals, after facing USA in the round of 16 and Senegal in the round of 32, while Spain faced and shutout Portugal in the previous round. On top of that, Belgium has a shaky defense at best, having conceded one goal by New Zealand and USA and two goals by Senegal. Take Spain to win this one.