Fresh from an enthralling seven-goal encounter with Estonia, Belgium resume World Cup 2022 Qualifying action on Sunday when they welcome the Czech Republic to the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels.
Roberto Martinez's men humbled Estonia 5-2 in their midweek battle, while the Czechs could only muster a one-goal victory over Belarus.
Match preview
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Estonia goal-getter Mattias Kait shocked the continent when he broke the deadlock against Belgium with barely two minutes played, but the floodgates would open thereafter as Hans Vanaken and Romelu Lukaku gave the Red Devils a 2-1 advantage before half time on Thursday.
Lukaku's second of the game preceded strikes from Axel Witsel and substitute Thomas Foket in the second 45 minutes, and while Estonia's Erik Sorga came off the bench to net a memorable goal, the world's top-ranked nation ultimately prevailed comfortably.
After yet another underwhelming performance at a major tournament, Belgium made a statement of intent straight away and have retained their three-point lead atop the standings in World Cup Qualifying Group E following previous wins over Wales and Belarus.
No UEFA team can better the 17 goals that Belgium have struck in qualification, but conceding twice to Estonia - a team ranked 109 places below them in the FIFA World Rankings - may concern Martinez somewhat.
However, Belgium's astonishing home record is there for all to see ahead of Sunday's game, as the Red Devils have embarked on a 29-game unbeaten run on familiar territory since a 2-0 friendly defeat to Spain in September 2016, although their visitors are daring to dream.
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After catching the eye at Euro 2020 en route to the quarter-finals, the Czech Republic are now seeking to book their place in the World Cup Finals for the first time since 2006, and there is cautious optimism that Jaroslav Silhavy's side can fulfil the nation's expectations.
Like Belgium, the Czechs also conceded twice against Estonia but ran out 6-2 winners in March, while a 1-1 draw with the Red Devils and a 1-0 defeat to Wales represented a mixed bag of results before their European Championship exploits.
Silhavy's side may have expected a greater margin of victory over Belarus on Thursday night, but Antonin Barak's 34th-minute strike was all that separated the two sides on the night as the Czech Republic cemented their second-placed standing in the group.
However, Wales sit just four points behind with two games in hand, so the importance of a faultless Qualifying campaign from here on in cannot be understated, but four of their last five away encounters in all tournaments have ended in defeat.
Lukaku and Lukas Provod both netted when the two sides drew 1-1 back in March, and Belgium have only managed to prevail in one of their last four encounters with the Czech Republic - a 2-1 friendly win in June 2017 thanks to goals from Michy Batshuayi and Marouane Fellaini.
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Team News
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Belgium midfielder Youri Tielemans suffered a minor ankle injury in training and was not available for the trip to Estonia, but Martinez is reportedly hopeful that the Leicester City man will shake off the issue in time for Sunday.
Should Tielemans not be deemed fit enough, Vanaken and Witsel ought to continue their effective partnership from midweek, while the injury-plagued Eden Hazard may feature here before being rested against Belarus.
Alexis Saelemaekers is one booking away from a ban and could cede his place on the right to Timothy Castagne, while Thorgan Hazard has been forced to withdraw due to injury.
As for the Czech Republic, defender Ondrej Kudela is back in the fold after serving a 10-game ban for racial abuse, but Euro 2020 star Patrik Schick and Pavel Kaderabek are both unavailable.
Neither Kudela nor Ondrej Celustka took part against Belarus but could form the centre-back pairing here, with Tomas Holes and Tomas Kalas making way as a result.
Teenage sensation Adam Hlozek featured out wide against Belarus as Martin Dolezal led the line to little effect, so Burnley's Matej Vydra could come into Silhavy's thinking for a start this weekend.
Belgium possible starting lineup:
Courtois; Alderweireld, Denayer, Boyata; Castagne, Witsel, Vanaken, Carrasco; Trossard, Lukaku, Hazard
Czech Republic possible starting lineup:
Vaclik; Coufal, Celustka, Kudela, Mateju; Kral, Soucek; Jankto, Barak, Hlozek; Vydra
We say: Belgium 2-1 Czech Republic
The Czech Republic command respect from the world's top-ranked nation, even if their narrow success over Belarus did leave a lot to be desired.
The hosts cannot expect another five or eight-goal showing in Qualifying this weekend, but Martinez's side should still get over the line and extend their lead at the summit.
Top tip
Ben Knapton
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Belgium win with a probability of 56.76%. A win for Czech Republic had a probability of 22.07% and a draw had a probability of 21.2%.
The most likely scoreline for a Belgium win was 2-1 with a probability of 9.76%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (8.06%) and 1-0 (7.86%). The likeliest Czech Republic win was 1-2 (5.76%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (9.52%). The actual scoreline of 3-0 was predicted with a 5.5% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Belgium would win this match.
