Wales will again be without several important players for their Nations League trip to Belgium on Thursday.

Captain Gareth Bale’s involvement could also be limited having featured mainly as a substitute for LAFC this season.

Wales sit bottom of League A Group 4, while Belgium – ranked second in the world – are three points behind leaders the Netherlands after four games.

After Thursday’s encounter in Brussels, Wales host Poland at the Cardiff City Stadium three days later in their final match of this Nations League campaign.

Wales have drawn one and lost three of their four games to date, with results not helped by manager Robert Page having to field largely second-string sides in two of those fixtures as he prepared for what would turn out to be an historic World Cup play-off victory over Ukraine in June.

That means Wales need at least one win from these two matches if they are to remain in the top tier of the Nations League.

While the temptation may be to throw in star forward Bale – who has a Wales men’s record 40 goals in 106 appearances – from the start, Page has said he must also take a longer-term view with the World Cup looming.

Wales will play their first match at a World Cup finals for 64 years when they face the United States on 21 November, and the games against Belgium and Poland are their last before travelling to Qatar.

It will therefore be a tricky balancing act to plan for these matches against quality opposition – second and eighth in the Fifa world rankings – as Wales aim to keep their place in the top tier of the Nations League while also considering the significance of greater challenges to come.

“We’ve got three or four key players out with Joe in the middle of the park, Ben Davies and Aaron and Harry, so you’ve got to get the balance right,” said Page.

“I’m not going to risk anyone’s health or injury with a World Cup in November but we also want to stay in the division.

“We’ve fought with one hand tied behind our back before in the first couple of games because of the [World Cup play-off] final and unfortunately we’re in the position we’re in.

“But we’ve still got two games left to stay in the division so we’ll take that. If we can qualify for a World Cup and still be in League A, I’d be really proud of the players.”

Belgium are without striker Romelu Lukaku but still boast a stellar squad which includes the likes of Manchester City midfielder Kevin De Bruyne and Real Madrid’s Eden Hazard.

Match facts

• Belgium have never lost a home match against Wales in seven previous meetings on home soil (four wins, three draws), winning 3-1 in the most recent game at Den Dreef in March 2021.
• Since beating Belgium 3-1 at Euro 2016, Wales are winless in three matches against the Red Devils, drawing two and losing one.
• Belgium have won four of their past 10 matches (three draws, three defeats), having won eight of their previous 10 (one draw, one defeat). Their previous three defeats before this run came across a sequence of 38 matches.
• Wales have lost three of their past five matches (one win, one draw), losing 3-2 to the Netherlands last time out. They have not lost consecutive games since June 2021 at the Euros finals against Italy and Denmark.
• Belgium are the leading scorers in the Nations League with 37 goals, scoring in every game. The Belgians have also conceded 23 goals, with the 60 goals in their matches the most of any nation.
• In their last 13 away matches, Wales have either kept a clean sheet (six times) or conceded at least twice (seven times), shipping 18 goals.
• Brennan Johnson has scored in his past two appearances for Wales – his first two international goals – although he has not ended on the winning side in either (one draw, one defeat).
• Belgium striker Michy Batshuayi has been involved in five goals in his last six appearances for Belgium (three goals, two assists), including an assist against Wales in June.

Sourced From BBC