Belgium vs. Canada Bet Builder Tips: Back this 17/2 acca for Group F clash
Possible dark horses Belgium kick off their World Cup campaign on Wednesday night (7pm kick-off) with what should be a relatively straightforward clash against Canada in Group F, and we pick out our best bet builder tips for the game...
Belgium went all the way to the semi-finals in the 2018 World Cup, but were knocked out by eventual winners France, and while they went on and beat England in the 3rd/4th place play-off the 'Golden Generation' of Belgian football had appeared to have missed a 'golden' opportunity.
Well, back for another crack at the 2022 edition in Qatar under the stewardship of Roberto Martinez, Belgium are relatively unfancied at 22/1 in the outright market, but they still have some real classy operators within their ranks and have to be respected in a Group F that houses Wednesday's rivals Canada, 2018 runners-up Croatia and Morocco.
Red-hot 1/2 favourites with the bookmakers for their match with Canada, Belgium should fancy their chances kicking off with a win.
500/1 outsiders Canada are as big as 12/1 to top Group F and they face arguably their toughest task first up against Belgium, but they did storm to top spot in their CONCACAF qualifying pool ahead of the likes of Mexico and the United States.
Priced up at 11/2 to grab the win here, Canada will be looking to cause a huge shock as they make their first appearance at a World Cup since 1986.
A 2-1 warm-up win against Japan means they head into their opening match in high spirits, but will be a tough ask for a side that certainly lacks the class man-for-man with Belgium.
Belgium vs. Canada Bet Builder Tips
Arguably the finest player on the planet at the moment - although his Manchester City colleague Erling Haaland may have something to say about that - Kevin De Bruyne will be the catalyst for Belgium and the marauding midfielder can showcase his talents on the big stage and he could be an integral cog to inspiring a Belgium win.
He may be more of a supplier in Pep Guardiola's Manchester City side (10 Premier League assists this season), but with the lack of Haaland in attack for Belgium then De Bruyne could be forced to produce some magic himself. Yes, he has Romelu Lukaku potentially in front of him, but he will certainly not have the moment of a Haaland, so De Bruyne could be forced to unleash several shots during the game.
He's had 34 shots this season in the league with 12 hitting the target, but this could be a match that sees him enhance those stats considerably and the 11/2 with bet365 for him to have over 2.5 shots on target in 90 minutes looks an eye-catching bet.
Focusing attentions on De Bruyne, who has scored two goals on his last four competitive matches for Belgium in the Nations League, then you have to look on snapping the 2/1 up for him to score at anytime. He's an 11/2 chance to score first in the match with bet365, which is extremely tempting, but to give yourself a bit of a cushion then add the anytime scorer selection to the over 2.5 shots on target.
This double comes in at an extremely attractive 17/2 with bet365, and while you run the risk slightly should Belgium pull comfortably clear of Martinez taking the talismanic De Bruyne off, Canada should be able to put up a big enough fit to keep in the game forcing De Bruyne to stay on for most of the clash and duly inspiring a win for the Group F favourites.
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