Belgium boss Domenico Tedesco had a juggling act on his hands to fit in an embarrassment of attacking riches for his team’s Euro 2024 opener against Slovakia today.
Leandro Trossard and Jeremy Doku, left-wingers by trade, enjoyed strong seasons in the Premier League and both start in Frankfurt this afternoon, supporting Romelu Lukaku and Kevin De Bruyne in attack.
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In recent months, a 3-4-2-1 system has been adopted by the Belgians to ensure they can pack in their star forwards, with Doku playing in the wider midfield role and Trossard in behind Lukaku.
At the back, the injured Jan Vertonghen and Arthur Theate both miss out along with Thomas Meunier, which results in a start for Fulham’s Timothy Castagne.
Club Brugge’s Maxim De Cuyper, 23, loses out to Sporting CP-bound Zeno Debast, 20, who starts along with Wout Faes in central defence.
Thibaut Courtois fell out with Tedesco before the Euros so Koen Casteels of Al Qadsiah will be their starting goalkeeper in Germany.
Slovakia will rely on Boavista striker Robert Bozenik to spearhead their attack with Feyenoord teenager Leo Sauer a wildcard option off the bench.
Veteran midfielder Juraj Kucka, 37, Napoli’s Stanislav Lobotka and Paris Saint-Germain’s Milan Skriniar will add some experience to the spine of the team. Denis Vavro was a doubt in defence due to a muscle injury but starts.
Belgium XI: Casteels, Castagne, Debast, Faes, Carrasco, Mangala, Onana, Doku, De Bruyne, Trossard, Lukaku
Subs: Theate, Vertonghen, Witsel, Tielemans, Kaminski, Sels, Lukebakio, Vranckx, De Ketelaere, Bakayoko, Openda, Vermeeren, De Cuyper
Slovakia XI: Dubravka, Pekarik, Vavro, Skriniar, Hancko, Kucka, Lobotka, Duda, Schranz, Bozenik, Haraslin
Subs: Obert, Rigo, Gyomber, Suslov, Tupta, Benes, Rodak, Hrosovsky, De Marco, Strelec, Duris, Bero, Ravas, Sauer, Kosa
Time and date: 5pm BST on Monday June 17, 2024
Venue: Waldstadion, Frankfurt
TV channel: ITV1
