Belgium vs North Macedonia Prediction and Betting Tips

Belgium and North Macedonia will face off in a potentially pivotal World Cup qualifier at the Ghelamco Arena on Friday night.

The two nations are currently separated by just one place and one point at the top of Group J, however section leaders North Macedonia have played one game more than Belgium.

After being held to a 1-1 draw by North Macedonia in their opening group game, Belgium have won their subsequent three matches.

What's more, the Red Devils have racked up a combined total of 16 goals across those three victories, so they should come into this crunch clash in high spirits.

As for the visitors, they have maintained their place at the top of the section thanks to back-to-back wins over Kazakhstan and Liechtenstein.

While confidence will be high in the North Macedonia camp, it would be fair to say that this will be their toughest test of the campaign so far.

How the bookies view it: Belgium big favourites

You won’t get rich backing Belgium to win on Friday night, with a home success as short as 1/6 with Boylesports.

Despites sitting at the top of Group J, North Macedonia are massive outsiders at 16/1 on Boylesports while the draw is also deemed unlikely at 6/1 with the same firm.

Head to head: History favours the hosts

As mentioned, the two teams played out a 1-1 draw in the reverse fixture back in June. That was just the third-ever meeting between the pair, with Belgium emerging victorious from each of the other two encounters back in 2014.

Players to watch: Count on Kevin

Belgium will look to Kevin De Bruyne for inspiration on Friday night. The classy playmaker has scored in each of his last three appearances for his country, making him a value option to repeat the trick here at 7/5 with Boylesports.

With two goals across his five starts in the current World Cup qualifying campaign, Bojan Miovski looks overpriced to register a minimum of one shot on target on Friday night at 13/8 with Bet365.

Predicted line-ups

Both Axel Witsel and Thibaut Courtois have been recalled to the Belgium squad, however influential duo Romelu Lukaku and Youri Tielemans are both unavailable due to injury.

North Macedonia manager Blagoja Milevski has the luxury of a full squad to choose from, with the visitors having no reported injury or suspension issues to contend with ahead of Friday night’s showdown in Ghent.

Belgium: Courtois; Castagne, Theate, Debast, De Cuyperr; Vanaken, Raskin; Doku, De Bruyne, Trossard; Openda

North Macedonia: Dimitrievski; Despotovski, Zajkov, Musliu, Alioski; Churlinov, Elmas, Kostadinov, Bardhi, Miovski; Trajkovski

Anything else catch the eye?

While Belgium are undoubtedly the superior outfit, this may not be the complete cakewalk that the pre-match odds suggest.

As alluded to, Belgium will be without some of their key players on Friday night, so there is plenty of scope for the Red Devils to record a solid if unspectacular success.

That makes a home win alongside under 3.5 goals worthy of support at a shade below even-money on Boylesports.

Belgium vs North Macedonia Betting Tips & Predictions