Euros last 16 preview: Lukaku and Ronaldo battle it out as Belgium take on Portugal

It’s certainly been an entertaining Euros so far this summer and it’s about to ramp up another level as we enter the knockout rounds.

Sunday’s fixtures bring about two fascinating encounters as Belgium face Portugal and Netherlands take on Czech Republic. We preview both games below.

Belgium to edge Portugal tie?

The main event on Sunday sees the world’s number one ranked team in Belgium look to state their next claim for European international football’s biggest prize when they take on European champions Portugal. The Red Devils started the tournament as one of the favourites to go all the way and at 9/1 they still offer great value.

Their group-stage campaign was relatively easy enough as they secured maximum points against Russia, Denmark and Finland while scoring seven and conceding just one. Belgium’s reward for topping Group B is a last 16 clash against Portugal in Seville, which isn’t exactly a reward, though a tough tie against a team from the Group of Death was always a possibility.

Despite facing the reigning European champions, who can count on tournament top scorer Cristiano Ronaldo among their ranks, it’s Belgium who enter the match as the 29/20 favourites over 90 minutes, with Portugal 2/1. Work out your potential winnings with our easy-to-use online betting calculator.

Portugal have had a mixed campaign, with a win, loss and draw to finish third in Group F, and while the likes of Ronaldo and Diogo Jota will no doubt be a danger to Belgium, their defence has let in six goals in its last two games. Romelu Lukaku then should fancy his chances to net a fourth goal of the competition by opening the scoring at 7/2, having been ruthless in front of goal up to now when linking up with Kevin De Bruyne. This one will be tight, but Belgium may just edge it and are 4/6 to advance to the last eight.

Wijnaldum to inspire Netherlands?

The earlier kick-off on Sunday takes place in Budapest as Netherlands take on Czech Republic, and like Belgium, the Oranje will also be looking to continue their 100% start to the competition.

There were plenty of concerns raised about Frank de Boer’s Netherlands side ahead of the tournament’s start, but they’ve silenced the doubters with three straight wins against Ukraine, Austria and North Macedonia, with the likes of Georginio Wijnaldum, Memphis Depay and Denzel Dumfries all impressing.

While it could be claimed that Netherlands have yet to be really tested, at 7/10, they are the clear favourites to beat Czech Republic inside the 90 minutes, with their opponents priced at 9/2. Czech Republic proved in their group games against England and Scotland that they’re no pushovers, but there’s no doubt they lack the quality the Dutch possess and this could be one hurdle too far for them.

Wijnaldum, fresh from his Liverpool exit, has already notched an impressive three goals in three games from midfield for Netherlands in the tournament and is 21/10 to add to that tally by scoring anytime on Sunday evening.

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