Euro 2016: Belgium look to sail past Italian defence

Lyon: It will be Belgium’s star-studded attack against Italy’s dogged defence and Marouane Fellaini says his team have the weapons to make a winning start to Euro 2016 on Monday.

Marc Wilmots’ Belgium have shot up the world rankings from 66th in 2009 to second coming into the European Championship finals and are amongst the favourites in France.

Now Manchester United’s Fellaini wants Premier League stars Kevin de Bruyne, Eden Hazard and Romelu Lukaku to showcase their talent against the Azzurri in Lyon in Group E.

“We have a lot top quality players up front, who can make the difference, we have three world-class forwards,” said midfielder Fellaini.

“I hope they are ready to score goals and make a difference. It’s always important to start with a win, especially for our confidence,” he added.

Irish seek to stop Zlatan in opener
In Paris, Republic of Ireland must somehow silence superstar Zlatan Ibrahimovic when they open their campaign against Sweden at the Stade de France. In a Group E match, a defeat for either side could be a decisive blow to their prospects of reaching the last 16.

At 34, Manchester United target Ibrahimovic is probably gracing a major international tournament for the last time after scoring 11 times during qualifying for Erik Hamren’s men.

“He’s a good player but you can’t single him out because they have others who can score goals, as they proved against Wales when there were three goal-scorers and he wasn’t one of them,” reasoned Ireland’s veteran goalkeeper Shay Given.

For Ireland the only nagging doubt is a key one, as influential Stoke City forward Jon Walters has been struggling to fully shake off an achilles problem.

In contrast, LA Galaxy striker Robbie Keane (calf) and Everton midfielder James McCarthy (groin and hamstring) should be fine having overcome their injury struggles.

Ireland’s last friendly saw them lose 1-2 at home to Belarus while Sweden have lost just once in 10 outings.