Spain welcome Scotland to the Estadio La Cartuja in Seville on Thursday (19:45) for a 2024 European Championship qualifier as they aim for revenge following the visitors' shock 2-0 win in March's reverse fixture.
However, that win for the Scots came in Spain manager Luis de la Fuente’s second match in charge and since then, La Furia Roja have gone on to win the 2022/23 Nations League and have scored 13 goals in their last two qualifiers, suggesting that they have now found their feet under their new boss.
- Spain to win
- Over 2.5 goals
- Alvaro Morata to score first
Spain To Bounce Back
The hosts will be eager to rectify the loss they suffered at the hands of the Scots earlier this year, and they could not have had better preparation for this fixture.
They are unbeaten since that night in Glasgow and De la Fuente will be confident of a victory which would see them close the gap on the Group A leaders to three points with a game in hand.
Only one of the back four who started in March kept their place for the recent wins against Georgia and Cyprus, with Unai Simon also replacing Kepa Arrizabalaga in goal, hinting that De la Fuente may now have found his best 11.
With that defensive solidity in place, Spain will look to dominate possession as they regularly do, and with Steve Clarke’s side missing a key member of their backline in Kieran Tierney, the hosts will be confident of breaching Scotland's defence this time around to take all three points.
Goals Likely In Seville
Having scored 13 goals in their last two games, Spain will be feeling confident coming into this contest despite Scotland’s impressive defensive record.
The visitors have conceded only once in qualifying, but there were signs in their recent 3-1 friendly defeat to England to suggest that may be a misleading statistic.
That loss against England is a better indicator of the strength of their defence as the potency of the other teams in Group A, barring Spain, is questionable at best.
England’s possession-based style is akin to that of Spain, suggesting that Scotland's defenders could be in for another tough night.
Despite Scotland remaining resolute when they welcomed Spain to Hampden Park in March, the signs suggest it will be a different story in Seville and the hosts could run rampant, making over 2.5 goals a solid betting option.
Morata to score first
Morata Can Bag First Again
Atletico Madrid striker Alvaro Morata has enjoyed a fine start to the season, scoring five times in seven La Liga games, including a brace against rivals Real Madrid, while he has also notched two goals in as many Champions League outings.
Morata, who is now Spain's captain, has scored 33 times in 66 appearances for his country and has three goals in four starts under De la Fuente.
He is in great form for club and country and looks a decent first goalscorer bet. He opened the scoring against Georgia last month before going on to bag a hat-trick.
