Martinez claimed Castagne was an option on both flanks. Would have liked Meunier to start on the right, two Luxemburgers on the flanks. Hopefully Vermaelen gets minutes to rid himself of rust.
Big 6-0 statement from the Swiss. Don't like it. Iceland will want to redeem themselves in front of their home crowd (when playing Belgium in a few days). Belgium might be a bit complacent with the comfortable win over Scotland and the Swiss routing Iceland. 2nd leg of a double header, the heads of our players could already be with their clubs, especially now that they didn't have much of a break after a great summer in Russia. Good thing that the tiebreakers for the group ranking look at matches played among the teams in question first (in case it's needed).
Skulason: "Iceland had the intent to redeem themselves". It wasn't to be but they're looking to bounce back next month, with some of their stalwarts rejoining the team.
Kevin De Bruyne is eyeing a comeback against Burnley, after the international break, 9 weeks (66 days) after he damaged a MCL ligament in his right knee. Guardiola: “Monday was his first training session back with the team so we will see when he’s ready to play.” #mcfc pic.twitter.com/RWRvpxQ69d— Kristof Terreur (@kristofterreur) October 2, 2018
Made it a bit too comfy for the Swiss. Great to get the win. Still qualification for the Final 4 could be decided by the H2H (the Swiss only lost by the smallest margin and have an away goal). A shame Iceland didn't see out the game after going up 0-2 against the French. A win against the WC holders would have done their confidence the world of good (added benefit of giving Belgium a bigger lead in the rankings). Probably should have looked to play a friendly at home against another team, to better prepare for the Swiss, instead of going to France. They'll play Switzerland next. Only a win against the Swiss is enough to stave off relegation (as they won't make up the GD).
Halfway through the League Stage ... and we're headed for the Nations League Finals ... with Portugal as the hosts. - Portugal are all but guaranteed to top their group. That already will be the case if Poland v Italy ends in a draw. If not, Portugal still have two games in November to advance from the group. - Spain, as well, are close to winning their group. In case they avoid a home defeat to England, on Monday, Spain are through (even if that game ends in a draw Croatia won't make up the 6-0 beating they suffered last month). - France have a slight edge but nothing has been decided in this group. Germany desperately need a win because they'll crash out if they fail to beat France on Tuesday. - Belgium are favourites and should be able to stay ahead of the Swiss. Iceland's next game, at home against Switzerland, is a must-win battle. If Iceland don't win it they'll have to come to Brussels already knowing they'll be relegated (they'd still have something to play for though, top seed status in the ECQs and their ranking). If the Swiss drop points in Iceland then Belgium can finish the job at home (in November, when we face Iceland, before heading to Switzerland for the final group game). => Belgium, France, Spain and the hosts, Portugal, that's a helluva Final Four Draw procedure: 3 Dec., no seeding but the hosts play in the first semis (5 June) ... best to draw Portugal to get an extra day of rest, still it's only two games.
Iceland will join Poland and drop down to League B in the 2020/21 edition. Besides having lost the relegation battle it looks like playing for a draw, in and against Belgium, won't help Iceland in the overall ranking. If they're looking for top seed status in the regular ECQs they'll have to go for the win. Switzerland can still overtake us, irrespective of the result in Belgium's next NL game v. Iceland. In our away game against Switzerland, Belgium advance to the semis with a win or a draw while for the Swiss it's a must-win game. Any win won't cut it either if Belgium has won the return against Iceland. The Swiss would then need to win while keeping a clean sheet or win by more than 1 goal or if it ends in 2-1 they'd have to hope the score in Belgium v. Iceland is 4-0 or worse (while with a 5-1 score or better Belgium go top after all). So beat Iceland and Belgium will be poised to win the group ahead of the final cowbell-riddled hurdle. Iceland's results in the last few tournaments have been admirable and Switzerland definitely are a quality side, still, Belgium should win both games TBH.
The injury list keeps getting longer, again. The injury balance for 🇧🇪. Adds Mousa Dembélé to the list:Injured:🚑 Lukaku🚑 Vertonghen🚑 De Bruyne🚑 Fellaini🚑 Dembélé(🚑 Benteke)Have had injuries:✔️E. Hazard✔️MignoletInjury free✅ Kompany✅ Alderweireld✅ Dendoncker (* barely played)— Kristof Terreur (@kristofterreur) November 3, 2018
Great effort I must say. The hunger to qualify for the final 4 really showed. How do you allow the Swiss so much space, so much time on the ball, ... one of the weakest performances. Our injured players are hard to replace but still you expect a lot more, definitely not such a weak display. Better start getting ready for the EUROs.