While World Cup qualifying is continuing for so many of the teams across the world, UEFA is taking a hiatus for friendly matches. What we're seeing is a lot of teams who are taking the opportunity to play against some comparable teams to see how they're going to stack up when they hit the big stage again in 2018 in Russia. We know that both England and Spain will be there once qualifying is complete, and that makes this match one that should be paid very close attention to by the soccer betting neutrals out there.
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Soccer Odds at BookMaker.eu
Odds Analysis
This is going to be a tight one for sure on the soccer betting lines. Spain is certainly the superior of these two teams, but playing on English soil is never easy, as Scotland found out last week in the WCQ in a 3-0 defeat. In fact, the last team to beat England here was the Netherlands in a friendly in March, and aside from that, the Three Lions have been virtually unstoppable outside of the quarterfinal match in Euro 2016 against Iceland. More on that in a moment.
Roster Analysis
England has been tinkering around with things over the course of the last several months with a new caretaker in charge of the team. Wayne Rooney is now wearing the No. 10 in the midfield and is still being called upon to play a crucial role even though he's now more of an attacking forward than a striker. That's leaving the choice between Daniel Sturridge, Jamie Vardy and young Marcus Rashford up front, and we wouldn't be shocked to see the team deploy somewhat of a 4-5-1 with Rooney headlining the attack out of the midfield again in this one.
Spain's decisions are a little more suspect. The team didn't even call upon a single experienced defender with the only meaningful game coming against Macedonia, as this is really an opportunity to try out some new names and faces in new places. As a result, the pressure is really going to be on all of the 20-somethings, including Cesar Azpilicueta, Sergi Roberto, Marc Barta, Nacho, Dani Cavajal and Inigo Martinez, all of whom are very likely to see at least some action at the back against England.
Recent Form
Spain has done little wrong at this point since the disappointing Euros. The team has gone 4-1-0 in just five matches since that point, the one less than perfect result being at Italy in a World Cup qualifier. This game is going to be an interesting road test though, knowing that La Roja haven't played a lot of big road games of late. There isn't much more coming in terms of challenges in World Cup qualifying, as the only really competitive match left feels like a home date with the Italians next year.
England did take a minor step backwards by drawing at Slovenia back in October, but the results have generally been pretty darn good. At the back, the team hasn't allowed a goal since Euro 2016 against Iceland, and that run of four straight matches without a goal allowed is going to be challenged for sure in this game. This is the best attack the Three Lions have seen arguably all year long, as the matches of late have come against Scotland, Slovenia, Malta and Slovakia.
Free Soccer Betting Pick
We expect to see this be a relatively slow match in spite of the fact that it's going to be a friendly and is generally a little more open as a result. England isn't going to take all that many chances against the ball possession heavy Spanish side, yet La Roja won't want to ultimately spoil their brand new defenders just trying to get some appearances on the national stage. The under is the safest play to make for sure.
Soccer Odds: England 1, Spain 1
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