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‘Quite a sneaky feeling’: Gary Neville gets William Saliba & Romelu Lukaku prediction horribly wrong
Source:Just a

Arsenal and Chelsea fans would have had their eyes on France against Belgium at Euro 2024 for different reasons.

For Chelsea, a certain Romelu Lukaku was starting up front, with William Saliba lining up for the French after another strong season in Arsenal colours.

There is no doubt that the Arsenal supporters would have been cheering their player on, but the same can't be said for Chelsea and Lukaku given how things have panned out in recent times.

The game ended with ex-Tottenham Hotspur defender Jan Vertonghen scoring an own goal that sealed the tie for France and helped them book a quarter-final ticket.

But before the game, Gary Neville made a prediction that went horribly wrong because he spoke about the battle that was about to commence between Lukaku and Saliba.

In terms of an overall rating, Lukaku was rated second-lowest (5.98) of those players who started for Belgium, he only had 21 touches of the ball and one shot (WhoScored).

The out-of-favour Chelsea man was clearly dealt with by Saliba and his partner in crime, Dayot Upamecano.

But Neville predicted pre-match that he had a 'sneaking feeling' for Lukaku and he thought the French duo would make a 'mistake' in getting into a physical battle with the striker, as he told ITV Sport.

The Manchester United legend added that Lukaku is a 'massive threat' and the likes of Saliba had to be 'very aware', but in the end, there was only one winner.

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France beat Belgium at Euro 2024 "I have got a quite sneaky feeling for him today," said Neville about Lukaku pre-match. "I think Saliba and Upamecano are the type of defenders who like to win that physical battle.

"The mistakes sometimes you can make playing against Lukaku is actually getting involved in a physical battle. He can roll you and do things to you that might surprise you. I have a sneaky feeling that he might just have a good day. He's a massive threat and those two centre-backs will be very aware of him."

England look woeful going forward, the Germans looked at their best against an abject Scotland side, Portugal are huffing and puffing, whilst France have only scored three goals and are yet to score from open play.

But one thing that has gone well is the defence and Saliba is one of the players who is performing at the top of his game.

Everyone has seen this quality for Arsenal, but they were yet to see it on the international stage, and after a tricky start, that is now starting to change.