If Belgium take this qualifier seriously, Romelu Lukaku can lead them past Sweden, says Tobias Gourlay
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Belgium have scored 3+ goals in 12/13 home qualifiers
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Lukaku has hit 10 in 9 for club & country
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Back Lukaku to score
Belgium v Sweden
Monday 19:45 (Live on Viaplay Xtra)
In Norway last night, Spain edged the hosts 1-0 to deny BTTS backers. But Kev had an excellent week and gets a well-earned breather.
We're in Brussels today for Belgium's Group F qualifier with Sweden. The hosts qualified for Euro 2024 by beating Austria on Friday.
To join them, the visitors either need to win out and hope Austria slip again so they can nick second place - or, more likely, they will have to win a playoff down the line.
Belgium (W5-D1-L0 in Group F) are unbeaten since Domenico Tedesco took charge after last year's World Cup.
They are missing some big names from their current squad - Courtois, De Bruyne and Trossard are all absent - but the Red Devils can still call on in-form Romelu Lukaku.
The big striker has been reinvigorated since joining Roma this summer. In the last month or so, he's scored in 10 in nine for club and country - including one in Friday's 3-2 win over the Austrians and a brace in Belgium's most recent home appearance (a 5-0 win over Estonia).
Going back to 2017, Belgium have scored 3+ goals in 12/13 home qualifiers. If he starts, we'll happily back Lukaku to grab one of them today.
If Sweden win today, they'll be the first team to win a qualifier in Belgium since Germany in 2010. Visitors are W0-D7-L23 since then.
The Swedes are W2-D0-L3 in Group F, having lost the reverse fixture 3-0 on home turf. They also went down 2-0 in Austria. On the road in qualifiers, they have lost 5/6 since 2021 - only managing a win against Estonia last month.
If already qualified Belgium come to play, they should have too much for visitors who are without key attacking threat Alexander Isak.
We'd check the team sheets before piling into the hosts, but if Tedesco is looking to maintain momentum in this game, his troops have the form to win. If Lukaku starts, we'll take him to score and Belgium to win in a Bet Builder on the Sportsbook.
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