Kick-off: 1945 BST, 12/06/2022
Stadium: La Rosaleda
TV: Premier Sports
Spain will hopefully have learned the lessons of last week’s 2-2 Nations League draw in the Czech Republic ahead of Sunday’s Malaga rematch.
La Roja dominated that contest, having 73 per cent possession and leading 12-3 in attempts on goal, but were caught out twice on the break.
This is a chance to put the record straight and 1.98 for a home win to nil is our initial Spain vs Czech Republic prediction.
Spain Odds
Either side of the Prague stalemate, Spain have also shared the spoils with Portugal and beaten Switzerland 1-0 in Geneva.
Pablo Sarabia put La Roja ahead early on against the Swiss and they then restricted their opponents to long-range efforts to equalise.
Luis Enrique accepted it was more of a low-key performance but was happy to see the 2021 finalists secure their first win in Group A2.
“The result defines everything, that’s how professional football works,” said Enrique.
“Switzerland had gone eight years without losing a competitive game at home – 23 games – but we knew how to impose our style.”
Spain should again control proceedings at La Rosaleda this weekend, but reduced energy levels after three quick fixtures may prevent them from chasing an emphatic victory.
Looking at the Spain vs Czech Republic odds, we reckon 6.25 for a smooth 2-0 success is the way to go.
Czech Republic Odds
Czech Republic began their campaign with an encouraging 2-1 home win over Switzerland before taking a point off Spain.
Jaroslav Silhavy’s side will be happy with that haul but may just have had their limitations exposed in Thursday’s 2-0 defeat in Portugal.
Lokomotiv Moscow striker Jan Kuchta scored in the opening two games and he forced a save from Diogo Costa in an early counter-attack.
Substitute Vaclav Jurecka should also have done better on the break in the latter stages, but in between it was a fairly comfortable victory for the 2019 winners.
Silhavy told UEFA: “We did not play as well as we did against Spain, when we carefully defended. We made two tactical mistakes and allowed two goals.
“We improved in the second half and had chances – it is a pity we did not score, as we could have made it more interesting.”
Avoiding relegation is almost certainly the target for the Czechs in this pool and damage limitation could be the aim here.
Let’s add 3.3 for La Roja to be leading 1-0 at half-time to our Spain vs Czech Republic betting tips.
Additional stats
Last result:
Switzerland 0-1 SPAIN – Sarabia
PORTUGAL 2-0 Czech Republic – Cancelo, Guedes
Head-to-head: Czech Republic 2-2 Spain, Spain 1-0 Czech Republic, Czech Republic 0-2 Spain
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