Spain v Croatia Betting Tips – Nations League, 11th September 7.45pm
We are clearly going to see a new Spain under new head coach Luis Enrique. They are moving away from their endless passing and are going positive, quick and direct. There was plenty of evidence of that at Wembley on the weekend as they beat England in their Nations League opener. Croatia played out a draw in Portugal last week as a warm-up for their first action in this tournament. Read our predictions for Spain v Croatia.
Spain News and Form
Spain produced a very good performance against England on Saturday at Wembley. They are moving forward to a totally new era with Luis Enrique in charge. With some of the old guard from their golden generation like Gerard Pique and Andres Iniesta gone, they are throwing out the tika-taka stuff. Against England, Spain were just direct, powerful and very positive and the Three Lions really had no answer in how to handle them either. So the Red Fury head back to home soil now and Spain to win to nil is at 7/4 odds* (Betting Odds were taken from September 7th, 2018 at 5:39 p.m.) and that is a strong Spain v Croatia prediction we feel.
Spain tumbled from the 2018 World Cup in the round of sixteen, following a shock elimination in a penalty shootout against Russia. However, they are undefeated since their Euro 2016 exit at the hands of Italy over 90 minutes. So they are still no push however and with a clear intent to just play more direct stuff then, carrying that extra threat that could push them back to being top of their game. This is a decent Croatia side that they will face here though and in the Paddy Power correct score market the Spain 1-0 option is at 4/1 odds* (Betting Odds were taken from September 7th, 2018 at 5:39 p.m.).
Croatia News and Form
Croatia picked up a draw against reigning European champions Portugal in a friendly on September 6th. Ivan Perisic had opened the scoring for the Croatians. To be fair they didn’t create a lot offensively in the match though. Croatia have posted a D4 L1 record in their last five games now (90 minutes). They have not been particularly great at the back either because they have conceded in each of their last six games as well, so there are vulnerabilities there which the Spaniards can attack. This will be Croatia’s first competitive match since their loss to France in the World Cup 2018 Final.
However, their defeat in the World Cup final is the only loss that Croatia have suffered since early June when Brazil got the better of them in a friendly. They have also hit the back of the net in each of their last nine games too. But if you take out the World Cup then Croatia have only scored one goal in their last four road games. So before the World Cup, they weren’t doing great out on the road. We are going to take a note of that and for our Spain v Croatia predictions look under 2.5 goals at 11/10 odds* (Betting Odds were taken from September 7th, 2018 at 5:39 p.m.).
Spain v Croatia Head to Head
This will be the first meeting between Croatia and Spain since their meeting at Euro 2016 when Croatia landed a 2-1 success. The Spaniards lead 3-2 though in the overall head to head between two nations with the one drawn match in there. In four of the five wins that have appeared in this fixture, the winner has scored at least two goals.
Spain v Croatia Betting Odds*
Spain 4/6
Draw 5/2
Croatia 7/2
* (Betting Odds were taken from Paddy Power on September 7th, 2018 at 5:39 p.m.)
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Spain v Croatia Predictions
Spain to win: Spain weren’t perfect against England but they were head and shoulders still above the Three Lions. They looked a totally different beast to the Spain we saw at the World Cup. We have to back them on home soil to come through with the victory.
