Spain will play host to Slovakia on Wednesday, June 23, at Estadio de La Cartuja for their final EURO 2020 group match. Having failed to win a single game so far, Spain need all three points to guarantee promotion, whereas Slovakia must avoid suffering a defeat that could see them eliminated from the tournament.
Slovakia vs Spain
When: Wednesday, June 23 – 18:00 CEST
Where: Estadio de La Cartuja in Sevilla, Spain
Weather: Sunny, 32°C
Referee: Björn Kuipers (NED)
Even though Spain looks like a real footballing heavyweight, this team is still at risk of not getting qualified for the knockouts. If they lose to Slovakia today, they’re out of the tournament.
If the two teams draw, Spain’s future will depend on what happens in Sweden vs Poland game – if the Poles win, it’s bye-bye to Spain. What all this means is that the Spain national team plan is to get a win this evening. If they do, it’s going to be their first victory of EURO 2020.
Not Losing Is What Slovakia Need
Ahead of the final EURO 2020 group stage fixture, Slovakia hold 3 points with a 2-1 win against Poland and a 0-1 defeat against Sweden. The Repre currently sit in second place in Group E, and if they can avoid losing against Spain, they will keep that position.
In fact, Slovakia even have a chance to top the group, although for that to happen, they need to stun Spain and hope that Sweden drop the ball against Poland. An unlikely outcome, but theoretically possible.
However, if Slovakia end up losing this evening, they could find themselves in a serious danger of missing out on qualifying for EURO 2020 knockout stage. Again, it will all depend on how the second Group E match will play out.
The trouble is that Slovakia just don’t look like a team that could put up much of a resistance against motivated Spain. They did get one win in the EURO 2020, but it happened against Poland, who played with ten men and conceded an own goal.
Spain Needs to Start Scoring More
Spain are still without a win at the EURO 2020, and the main reason for that is that their attackers haven’t been in a goal-scoring mood. They played a goalless draw in their EURO 2020 opener against Sweden, in which they had 17 goal attempts.
In their second match of the tournament, Spain drew with Poland 1-1. Alvaro Morata did get on the scoresheet, but only once, even though his team had 11 goal attempts, five aimed towards the goal.
Obviously, La Roya need to get much more from their frontline if they want to advance to the next stage. The good news is that Morata has ended his goal drought, which should make him more confident. On top of that, knowing how important this game is, the Spain boss Luis Enrique might decide to go with a more offensive strategy.
Sure, Spain have been playing with a 4-3-3 formation, but Enrique might decide to shuffle his starting XI. Liverpool’s creative midfielder Thiago Alcantara might take Rodri’s place, and we could also see Pablo Sarabia starting the game in the midfield.
Up in the final third, we expect to see Gerard Moreno together with Dani Olmo and Morata. Moreno could prove to be the ace up Spain’s sleeve, considering that the guy is coming off a brilliant season in La Liga, in which he scored 23 goals – second only to Lionel Messi.
Slovakia vs Spain Betting Picks
Spain are a much better team than what their EURO 2020 performances would suggest. They have struggled to show that due to the lack of goals, but it’s only a matter of time before their strikers wake up.
A match of this importance might be precisely the wake-up call Spain need to start showing what they’re capable of any given the quality of the opponents they’re facing today; La Roya should feel confident in their chances to end the day with a big W.
Prediction: Spain -2.00 Asian Handicap – 2.08 at Sportmarket
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