The defending European champions Spain get their title defence underway on Monday afternoon when they face the Czech Republic in Group D of Euro2016. Both teams have seen Croatia beat Turkey in the first match in this group and here is their chance to answer that win.
Defeat for either isn’t catastrophic but a win has them immediately in a nice position to push on and qualify for the next stage without having to go through too much anguish and heartache and that has to be the aim.
Spain go into this tournament under a bit of a cloud. This whole sex scandal thing kicked up again over the weekend and that wasn’t well timed and prior to that they lost to Georgia in a friendly. Of course, we shouldn’t take too much notice of friendly results but it is something to add to a combination of mounting things that don’t help.
The Spanish had a terrible World Cup campaign which is making their fans feel a little nervous and they’re not a side who score a lot of goals at the top level anymore which will also get the anxiety building among their followers.
Key Man
Andres Iniesta might not be the force he was but he is still a very accomplished footballer and even now most things that are good about Spain involve him in some way shape or form. His experience could be invaluable in a younger looking squad too so the Barcelona man is going to be important here.
The Czechs have already qualified for this tournament ahead of the Dutch so they might have felt they deserved an easier group draw than the one they have got but they’ve been given arguably the hardest draw of all the 24 sides in this competition and are going to have to play lights out just to make it out of the group.
Czech Republic might have qualified ahead of Holland but I think that is a bigger criticism of the Dutch than any positive of the Czechs because they’ve rarely looked a good side to me. In fact I think they are comfortably the worst of the four in this group which doesn’t bode well for them.
Key Man
Tomas Rosicky’s light is dimming at the top level but his experience in this young Czech side can’t be underestimated. He can still pop up with a goal every now and again as well and it is likely to be his last tournament so he’ll want to go out with a bang.
Team News
Vincente del Bosque has confirmed David de Gea will start despite all the allegations that are being made against him. Alvaro Morata has recovered from the knock which kept him out of the recent Georgia friendly and he is expected to start.
Czech Republic will be without the suspended Marek Suchy while Borek Dockal is a doubt with an ankle injury. Michal Kadlec could get a starting berth while Arsenal’s Petr Cech is likely to be in goal in what could be his final major tournament.
Head to Head
These two countries have met on four occasions in the past with Spain winning three of those matches and the other one being a goalless draw. Czech Republic have only scored one goal in those four matches and you get the feeling that is a statistic which will need to change if they are to compete here.
Betting
If this match was played on paper I would expect Spain to win and I expect them to do it on grass too. I’m convinced there is a significant gap between the Czech Republic and anyone else in this group but the gap to Spain is probably the largest.
The Czechs aren’t likely to see too much of the ball in this match so they are going to have to try and hang in the game and maybe force a chance from a set piece or something like that but it is hard to see a stand out player to trouble the Spanish defence and if their defence isn’t put under pressure then they can pop it around as much as they like and tire a side out.
As long as Spain score, and with all the possession they are going to have I’ve got to think they will, then I don’t see them losing this. The best bet looks to be Spain to win to nil which as long as they score is exactly how I see the game going. That way we don’t need to worry about them scoring a second and third to cover handicaps.
Tips
WON – Back Spain to win to nil for a 4/10 stake at 2.20 with Paddy Power
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