England v Spain Betting Tips

This friendly is between two supposed big European powers. However, whilst Spain have dominated international football for the best part of a decade, England have been in crisis.

England managed to defeat Scotland on Friday to continue their excellent qualification record at Wembley. However, coming up against the Spaniards on Tuesday will be a completely different test.

These two sides last met just over a year ago in Spain and England were taught a lesson in football during a 2-0 loss. At that time Roy Hodgson’s England were going incredibly well with five consecutive qualification wins, but the match against the Spanish showed just how far they are behind the best footballing nations – as we saw again at Euro 2016.

England did not completely dominate in their 3-0 victory against the Scots, particularly in the first half, but managed to take their chances when they came. What will concern manager Gareth Southgate though is the defence. Although the Three Lions kept a clean sheet, Scotland had their chances and if they had been more clinical then England would have had a real game on their hands.

Additionally, the Scots pressed England well in the first half which led to the home side giving the ball away very sloppily in very dangerous areas. Unfortunately for Gordon Strachan’s Scotland side, they failed to take advantage.

If England are as sloppy on the ball on Tuesday as they were on Friday and give Spain the sort of chances they gave Scotland then it will be a certain defeat for Southgate’s men.

As previously mentioned, this is a completely different test for England against this very accomplished Spain team. Although they have a new coach in Julen Lopetegui, Spain are still one of the most feared teams around and capable of tearing opponents apart on their day – as we saw when they cruised to victory against Macedonia on Saturday.

Most teams that come to Wembley expect to be dominated by England, but the roles will certainly be reversed on Tuesday with Spain likely to have most of the ball.

Whilst England do have an excellent home record, unsurprisingly, Spain’s record on the road is also pretty good with no defeats in their last eight matches away from home (not including tournaments).

In truth, the Spanish are hard to oppose and I am expecting a pretty comfortable away win. They are solid at the back and sublime going forward. This is in stark contrast to England who struggle to break down good defences whilst their own back-line looks a bit shaky.

People will perhaps point to England’s record at Wembley, but that goes out the window here against such a strong side. I am amazed that you can get a decent price (6/4) on the Spanish win here as I give England little chance.

Another bet to go for here is ‘Spain to Win by a Margin of Two or More’. As previously mentioned, I expect this to be pretty comfortable for the Spanish and I can see them easily scoring two goals against this England defence with the home side offering very little in response.

A likely repeat of Spain’s 2-0 win against England a year ago will see you home and dry on both of these bets.

See more tips here.