Spain vs Portugal. Prediction and Preview. Probable Lineups, Team News, Stats and more
Spain will host Portugal at Estadio Benito Villamarín in the UEFA Nations League. The match will take place on June 3, beginning at 00:15 IST.
The final matches of the European competitions have brought plenty of great emotion. Now, the club football is taking a break while the Nations League kicks off. On the 2nd of June, there are seven fixtures of the first round. One of them will see Spain and Portugal clash in Seville.
Spain and Portugal contest is one of the heated group stage battles of the current Nations League campaign. One of them will not reach the play-offs, but that’s even better: instead of a single match, there will be two unforgettable encounters. The squads of both teams are full of top players, so the football will be exciting and surely productive.
Parimatchnews will tell you everything you need to know ahead of the upcoming match.
Spain News & Current Form:
In the eight rounds of the World Cup 2022 qualifying group stage, the Spaniards suffered only one defeat, against Sweden (0-1). They also drew with Greece (1-1). The rest of the matches were victories. Thus, they topped the standings and secured a direct ticket to the upcoming World Cup in Qatar.
The experienced Luis Enrique has played no small part in this success. Under his careful guidance, the Spanish national team reached the semi-finals of Euro 2020 and reached the final of the Nations League last year. Both times, they failed to win the trophy due to a lack of squad depth. And, yet, they lost by the narrowest of margins.
The semi-final of the UEFA Nations League last season, when they beat Italy 2-1 to end Italy’s unbeaten run, is worth a special mention. At the time, Italy were unbeaten in 37 official matches in succession. They approached the encounter with the Spaniards as favourites..
The opponents of the glorious Azzurri were missing their attackers because of injuries. Enrique decided to place midfielder Pablo Sarabia at the edge of the attack, and released a very young Gavi in midfield. The tactical move paid off. The Spaniards looked more interesting and secured a legitimate win. Although Leonardo Bonucci‘s red card in the middle of the match also helped.
Under Luis Enrique’s leadership in Spain, youngsters are making great progress. They can replace one another quite easily, adding to the variability of the coach. Furthermore, judging from the coach’s statements, the team is going to make a noise at the World Cup. They have their own signature style, and the Nations League matches are a great opportunity to ‘hone’ their game on tough opponents.
Aymeric Laporte and Pedri will not help Spain in the upcoming match.
Portugal News & Current Form:
The Portuguese national team, meanwhile, faced unforeseen difficulties in the group stage of World Cup 2022 qualification. In eight rounds, Portugal had only five victories, four of them over clear underdogs. They also suffered draws against Serbia (2-2) and Ireland (0-0), and a 1-2 defeat by the same Serbs. As a consequence, they were forced to fight in the knock-out stages for a place in Qatar.
Fortunately for the Portuguese fans, their home nation managed to beat Turkey 3-1 in the semi-finals and then took on Northern Macedonia 2-0 in the final. However, the victory over the Turks was not without adventure. In the closing stages of the match, with the score at 2-1, the opposing striker, Burak Yılmaz, could have equalised from the penalty spot. Luckily, the striker’s shot went over the top of the goal.
Be that as it may, Portugal do not currently inspire confidence. The fact is that national team leader Cristiano Ronaldo and his team-mate Bruno Fernandes have had a controversial season at club level for Manchester United. Diego Dalot was not good either. The final stretch was particularly disappointing. In the last six rounds of the EPL, the Mancunians only picked up one win against Brentford (3-0).
They also drew with Chelsea (1-1), while losing to Liverpool (0-4), Arsenal (1-3), Brighton (0-4) and Crystal Palace (0-1). As a result, they finished sixth in the English league table. The Red Devils have also failed to qualify for the Champions League. They were defeated in the last eight by Atlético de Madrid. In other cup competitions, the Red Devils did not succeed either.
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In our view, Ronaldo alone should not be blamed for these failures. The ageless striker scored 18 goals in 30 Premier League appearances and netted six in seven Champions League games. However, his efforts and motivational words were not enough to bring the season to a successful conclusion. That speaks volumes. The setback, of course, had a negative impact on the striker’s morale.
It is worth admitting that even though a player of this ego broke Solskjær’s game model, he still singlehandedly won games for the Mancunians. Perhaps the anger of a season like this will motivate the striker to shine in the coming matches.
It is worth mentioning the Serie A phenomenon of the season, Rafael Leão, who has had a very good season at AC Milan. The 22-year-old striker’s brilliant performances led to the league title for his club and also doubled his transfer value in a single year. He also was named the Most Valuable Player of season. A player in such top form can cause a lot of problems.
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Spain season form guide (all competitions): W-L-W-W-W-W
Portugal season form guide (all competitions): W-W-D-L-W-W
Spain vs Portugal United Head-To-Head Record:
| Spain | Draw | Portugal |
| 17 | 15 | 6 |
Spain vs Portugal Predicted XI:
Spain possible starting lineup(4-3-3): Unai Simon, Cesar Azpilicueta, Eric Garcia, Pau Torres, Jordi Alba, Sergio Busquets, Koke, Dani Olmo, Pablo Sarabia, Alvaro Morata, Ferran Torres.
Portugal possible starting lineup (4-3-3): Diogo Costa, Joao Cancelo, Pepe, Domingos Duarte, Raphael Guerreiro, Bruno Fernandes, Ruben Neves, Danilo Pereira, Bernardo Silva, Cristiano Ronaldo, Rafael Leao.
Statistical preview of the match Spain vs Portugal:
- Three previous matches between Spain and Portugal have ended in draws.
- Spain have won 7 of their last 8 matches in all competitions.
- Portugal have won 3 previous away matches in all competitions.
- Of the last ten head-to-head games, the opponents have exchanged goals in only three.
- The last 19 of Spain’s 21 home matches have ended with at least 2 goals scored.
- At home, Spain have scored at least one goal in 18 of their last 21 encounters.
What has been said before the match:
Luis Enrique, Spain coach:
“Ansu Fati is a special case [for Spain]. He hasn’t played much recently. We want to see him train and see him regain his confidence. He is a very important player and we want him to be playing at his best level again. It’s true that [Real Madrid forward Marco Asensio] doesn’t play often for his club, but what is important is what he does here with us.”
Fernando Santos, Portugal coach:
“We have to built on what we did in the play-offs [when Portugal secured a World Cup berth with wins against Turkey and North Macedonia]. We will have four games in ten days [in the Nations League], so we will have to manage the players’ physical condition well. This is one of the most important competitions in the sporting calendar. We are going into it to win it.”
Spain vs Portugal Prediction:
The Spanish team have always been among the favourites on the international stage. Luis Enrique now has more resources, at least relative to last year. There is confidence that the coach will achieve more solid success than reaching the semi-finals of Euro 2020.
Many will recall how the teams had a crazy match at the 2018 World Cup with Ronaldo’s hat-trick and six goals in total. Since then, they have played two friendlies, both of which ended in nil draws.
Given such attacking potential of the teams, something similar should not happen now. Portugal’s underdog status in the match is highly exaggerated. The visitors’ squad is every bit as good as their Spanish counterpart, and even more interesting when it comes to attacking. And adding to this the absence of key defenders on both sides – we expect the teams to exchange goals.