Nobody wants a draw

At the U21 European Championship 2023 in Georgia and Romania, Tuesday (June 27, 2023) marks the start of the third and final day of play before the knockout round. This will then make the first decisions as to which teams will reach the quarter-finals. The U21s from Portugal and Belgium will face off in Group A and fight for the win and the three points. 

Actually, the form curve before the European Football Championship of the U21 juniors seemed to be right for the Portuguese. In their last two friendlies, they first defeated Romania 2-0 and then even the Norwegians 3-0. But with the start of the group phase everything suddenly looked very different. The Iberians let themselves be taken by surprise by the host Georgia at 0:2. And on matchday two, a 1-0 lead against Holland wasn't enough to get them over time. The final score was 1:1, which makes things particularly complicated in Group A. Because even a narrow victory by one goal might not be enough. In other words: Portugal will have to stretch a lot for the quarter-finals.

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Goal-hungry Portugal

If we look at the Portuguese performance in our tip analysis over a somewhat longer period of time, the associated numbers and statistics are much easier to read. Because only two of 17 international matches were lost. Apart from the defeat at the start, a 1-2 in the test against Japan at the end of 2022 was also part of it. And the 1-1 draw against the Netherlands was just another draw. In the qualification against Iceland the final score was also 1-1. The other 13 matches were won by the Portuguese U21s. She marched briskly through Group D of qualifying - with nine wins in ten games. But above all with 41 goals, the most goals of any national team in qualifying.

How good is Belgium U21? 

What happened to the Portuguese in the second group game made the Belgium U21 national team even worse. Because she even led 2:0 against Georgia, but in the end she couldn't get more than 2-2 because the hosts equalized three minutes before the end. So the Red Devils had to settle for a point, just like they did at the start of the U21 European Championship in Group A against the Netherlands (0-0). For you, however, this is a valuable indication when looking for the best betting tip. Because of the last nine international matches, an unbelievable six Belgian games ended in a draw without a winner. So, among other things, two friendlies against France (2-2) and the Czech Republic (0-0). However, Belgium won the two friendlies immediately before the European Championship, as did Portugal. In this case 3-2 against Japan and 2-0 against Israel.

The Belgians qualified for the U21 European Championship as the winners of group I. At first everything went to the taste of the Belgian kickers, who all won their first six matches. Five times in a row even to zero, which of course speaks for a brilliant defensive performance. At the end of the qualification, however, the sluggishness crept in. This is also part of the result of our forecast. Because against the toughest pursuer Denmark (1-1) and finally against Scotland (0-0) it was only enough for a draw. And with that, the draws began to pile up.

Portugal U21 - Belgium U21: What to expect? 

Our betting tip experts have discovered an extremely exciting statistic in this part of the analysis, which deals with the head-to-head between the two U21 national teams. Portugal and Belgium have met six times so far. There have already been four draws. Just like in the only meeting at a final round, the European Championship 2007 in the Netherlands, where the comparison ended 0-0. It was 0-0 again after 90 minutes, and 1-1 twice. Portugal (3-2 in a friendly) and Belgium U21 (2-1 in a European Championship qualifier) ​​won once each. This also means for a suitable prognosis: In four matches, a maximum of two goals were scored.

If four of six direct duels and six of the last nine Belgian international matches all ended in a draw, we can't help but give you a X draw betting tip . Especially since that promises high odds and Portugal also played 2-2 against Georgia at the U21 European Championship. Since the Belgian team proves again and again how strong the defence is and four out of six clashes against Portugal also ended with fewer than three goals, our prognosis for an alternative in the Betting Tip Under 2.5

• Draw (X)
• Under 2.5 Goals

* All odds and markets are correct at time of publication and subject to change.