Spain will be aiming to score a second victory in a row at home versus Croatia. After a disappointing World Cup they managed to beat England and will try to improve their standing in the UEFA Nations League. We are bringing you a preview of the match on Tuesday and provide a couple of valuable betting tips.
These two fantastic teams will be playing on Tuesday. Spain is well known for their almost endless pool of football talent and Croatia has proven they are capable of keeping up with the best teams in the world, as evidenced by their run in this year’s World Cup. The teams have played a total of five matches against each other and Spain came out ahead three times, while Croatia managed to win just one match. This victory, however, is the most relevant recent result. Croatia beat Spain during the EURO 2016.
Spain is coming off a solid victory on the road against England while Croatia ended in a draw against Portugal. Both teams have played really well recently. Spain lost just one of their last 25 games and Croatia lost just two times in their past 10 matches.
The game will start at 7:45pm on Tuesday, the 11th of September. It will be played in Elche at the Martinez Valero, a stadium with over 33,000 capacity.
Watch it on Sky Football or Sky Sports Main Event or streamed online. We have reviewed the best bookmakers with live streaming coverage for you. Some of them are going to provide live footage of the game. Make sure to check out the best live streams bookmakers to find out where to watch the game.
Spain is most likely going to stick to their rather new 4-3-3 formation, a system which has already proven its value at Luis Enrique’s last club, FC Barcelona. Croatia on the other hand is playing a more defensive style with their 4-2-3-1 formation.
Spain is going to be missing Diego Costa and Vida is doubtful for the Croatian side, as well as Dejan Lovren who is out due to an injury.
Spain: De Gea, Alonso, Ramos, Nacho, Carvajal, Alcantara, Busquets, Niguez, Isco, Rodrigo, Asensio
Croatia: Kalinic, Barisic, Vida, Mitrovic, Vrsaljko, Kovacic, Badelj, Perisic, Modric, Pjaca, Livaja
It is really hard to select just a couple of players to watch in this game. Both sides have loads of talent and especially Spain is expected to start some upcoming rising stars. Marco Asensio and Sergi Roberto are some of the biggest talents in Europe and can make the difference. Rodrigo has been flying slightly under the radar, but the Valencia forward managed to account for four goals (scored three goals, one assist) in his five matches for Spain.
It will also be interesting to see if Luka Modrić will be able to run the midfield. The Real Madrid star was awarded the FIFA The Best award and played an absolutely magnificent World Cup campaign.
Spain will be going into this match with a lot of confidence after a strong victory on the road against a tough opponent. The Iberians were a little bit lucky though because England had some decent scoring opportunities. The new head coach, Luis Enrique, will be looking to find his starting lineup for the upcoming Euro 2020 in the next two years. Therefore it will be not surprising to see some new faces joining La Roja in the process. Their team will become younger and some key players have already retired, such as Andrés Iniesta.
Croatia on the other hand is a way older and therefore also a more experience team. They have lots of players who are 30 or older and will not play much longer than two years. The team is playing a really aggressive style of football which makes life hell on the pitch for their opponents. Their first match after the World Cup against Portugal was not spectacular in any way, but that’s not a big surprise anyways. Croatia is not playing a pretty type of football, but they are always willing to run that extra mile and risk a booking.
Croatia is one of the hardest matchups for Spain. They are playing a type of football which is pretty much ideal to counter the offensive Spanish system. They are going to rely on their solid defense and keeping control of the midfield. Blocking and avoiding key passes to the Spanish wingers and forwards will be highly important for Croatia in this match. If Spain is not playing cautiously enough Croatia is going to have some decent scoring opportunities due to their fast counter attack potential. Even though they will be missing the retired Mario Mandžukić and injured Ante Rebić, they still have players to get it done.
Though it seems like Spain might end up winning the match at home, I don’t really like the odds. Spain is currently 7/10 to win at 1XBet which is simply not good enough in my opinion. Therefore I will be betting on Croatia not to lose at odds of 2.20 offered by Bwin instead.
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