It is fair to say that Spain haven’t lit up Euro 2020 yet and they will be looking to change all that when they complete their Group E assignments against Slovakia in Seville on what is likely to be baking hot afternoon on Wednesday.
Such has been their struggles so far, Spain go into this final group match knowing they have to afford defeat or else they will be making the earliest of exits. Even then a draw could see them eliminated. Slovakia also have to avoid defeat if they are going to progress to the last 16.
Where to watch
The match will be shown live and in full on the ITV1 channel with the lead up to the game beginning at 4.15pm and the match kicking off in Seville at 5pm UK time.
Slovakia
The Slovakians have been in ‘get another point’ mode since their opening match when they came out with a 2-1 win over Poland. There was nothing special about that performance and there certainly wasn’t anything inspiring about them in their defeat to Sweden in the next game, although they will argue they were only beaten by a dubious penalty. That is all fair enough but they just haven’t looked a good side.
Clearly they set their stall out to contain sides but that is going to be a very tough ask here. It will be a tough ask for a few reasons. The first and obvious one of those is that they are not going to see a lot of the ball. They probably don’t want much of it but chasing shadows for 90 minutes in 6pm Seville heat isn’t going to be a lot of fun. The other reason is because they don’t possess much of a goal threat so if they are breached it is hard to see how they will get back into the game.
Spain
You have to say Spain have looked very light on quality at the top end of the pitch. They have put together more passes than a year’s worth of episodes of The Chase but the one pass they are struggling to complete is the one which puts the ball in the back of the net. They have only scored once in their two matches and while their xG stats are right up there with anyone in the tournament, xG doesn’t win you matches. G do.
You kind of hope that Spain were going to work their way into the tournament. It didn’t go how they planned against Sweden in their opening match but they were expected to stroll past Poland in their second one. That isn’t how it worked out. Actually there are starting to be a few questions appearing about them defensively. Because they have so much of the ball they don’t concede many chances but the ones they do concede tend to be gilt-edged ones which might count against them should they get through here.
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Team News
Ivan Schranz once again misses out for Slovakia in this match and they will also be without Denis Vavro as he remains unavailable after he tested positive for Covid-19. This could be the final appearance at a tournament for Marek Hamsik if things don’t go to plan here.
Sergio Busquets is expected to replace Rodri in the middle of the park after he tested positive for Covid-19 prior to the tournament starting. Luis Enrique has promised to raise the quality of his side which could see Thiago Alcantara come into the side.
Betting
Spain haven’t been convincing at all in this tournament but Slovakia are the weakest side in the section and I expect Luis Enrique’s men to come good when it truly matters. I don’t see Slovakia providing much of a goal threat here at all. They don’t possess one really and knowing a draw sees them through they could deliver one of the most negative performances ever seen at a European Championship here, unless of course they concede early and are forced to change their approach.
I don’t expect to see Spain going gung ho in the game though. When they are ahead there will be no need to push it and in the searing heat of Seville they probably won’t want to push it too much either as they may think it is more important to reserve some energy for the knockout stages. Spain really struggled to create against Sweden’s low block. I expect them to score here though but I fancy a routine Spain win will contain fewer than 3.5 goals.
Tips
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