BrownFinnis

Spain were hugely impressive in their 5-0 victory over Portugal. It’s already clear how much better they are this time than they were at the 2022 European Championship, when England beat them in the quarter-finals, and they are only just getting started at this tournament.

Lots of teams have seen changes in personnel since that tournament, and the 2023 World Cup, but none of them have improved to the extent that Spain have.

We saw against Portugal what happens when a team does not adapt at all to the dominant way Spain play – you have to acknowledge you are not going to see much of the ball, sit off them and play on the counter, but Portugal did not really do that and paid the price.

I am not expecting Belgium to make the same mistake, but it is still hard to see them getting anything out of this game. Losing to Italy was a big blow to their hopes of getting out of the group, and this is clearly a much harder task.

Belgium have played Spain four times in the past few months, in the Nations League and in qualifying for these Euros, and lost every time.

A couple of those defeats were heavy ones, but Belgium did cause them a few problems at times too.

I am not sure how close they will get to the world champions this time, but at least they know what to expect.

Brown-Finnis’ prediction: 2-0

I keep changing my mind about how this game might work out for England, and I am sure that will continue right up until kick-off.

I feel like the Lionesses will probably need to be a little conservative if they are to start the defence of their title with a win, but I can see them keeping a clean sheet if they get things right at the back.

Even in this week’s friendly win over Jamaica, England showed some vulnerability at set-pieces, so they are going to have to tighten up and be sharper in those situations.

England lost two key defensive players, goalkeeper Mary Earps and centre-back Millie Bright, in the run-up to the tournament and while our backline is still at world-class level without them, replacing them has caused some disruption to our defensive unit.

So, I am sure there will still be a few issues that will need to be ironed out as this tournament progresses, but hopefully that won’t cost England any goals or points here.

The key for England winning this game will be them being tight at the back – maintaining possession, controlling the game and reducing the number of mistakes.

If they can do that and also create some chances for our forward line then our attackers are so ruthless, they will take care of the rest.

Brown-Finnis’ prediction: 0-1