Hungary v Belgium: Spurs defenders are big value to score
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It could be argued that Hungary were the most adventurous team to qualify from the group stage of Euro 2016, on the basis that no team to reach the last 16 scored more than their six goals or conceded more than their four.
The reward for this attitude has been a place in what is being considered as the easiest section of the draw, with the winner of Hungary’s clash with Belgium facing the winner of two of the other smaller nations still afloat in the competition – Wales and Northern Ireland.
Based on FIFA world rankings, this is something of a mismatch, with Hungary punching above their weight somewhat in 20th, while Belgium are the highest-rated Europeans in second.
From this standpoint, Belgium are attractively-priced at 4/6 to pick up the win inside 90 minutes.
However, the problem with Marc Wilmots’ team full of superstars is that they play in a fairly open manner, especially in terms of how non-compact they are without the ball.
This, alongside Hungary’s record for scoring and conceding in the group phase, suggests that there is a high probability of goals in this.
Over 2.5 goals in the match looks on the long side at 11/8 and over 3.5 goals is not out of the question either at 15/4.
In terms of who will get these goals, it could be worth a dabble on the 13/2 that Tottenham defender Jan Vertonghen is on target in the game.
Hungary conceded the most opportunities in the group stage from set pieces and Vertonghen has been on free-kick duty for Belgium so far if the situation calls for either a left-footer to step up or power over precision. He will obviously be an aerial threat in the box too.
Spurs teammate Toby Alderweireld is 17/2 in the same market and arguably possesses an even bigger goal threat from headers, having three opportunities of this type in Group E.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
