Top spot in Group A3 of the UEFA Nations League (UNL) is on the line on matchday six as Spain, who just need to avoid defeat to stay on the summit, host England, who must win to overtake the world champions.
Match News and Current Form
Spain battled to a 2-0 win away at the Czech Republic on Thursday night to maintain their 100% record in this UNL cycle, while also stretching their incredible unbeaten run inside 90 minutes to 43 matches (W34, D9). La Roja will progress beyond the group phase for a fourth successive edition of the UNL, and having reached the final in each of the previous three, they must be confident of doing so again and holding all three major international trophies available to them. Luis de la Fuente oversaw their victory in this competition in 2023 and has never lost a home game in charge of Spain, who were last beaten on their own turf back in September 2022 by Switzerland.
England may not have been at their best on matchday five, but a 2-1 victory over Croatia means they’re still in contention to top the group and secure a home quarter-final in the process. Even reaching that stage is a marked improvement for the Three Lions, who’ve not gone beyond the UNL groups since the inaugural edition in 2018/19. They face international football’s toughest fixture here and tend to struggle at this level given that the only two losses Thomas Tuchel’s men have suffered since the end of March have come against the two World Cup finalists (W12, D1), though the fact they’ve not been beaten on opposition soil in over four years must instil belief in the visitors’ camp.
Head-to-Head History
England have won just two of the last ten H2Hs (D1, L7), tasting defeat in the final of Euro 2024 (2-1) and the reverse fixture of this UNL cycle (3-2). Each of the last five H2Hs saw both teams score and produced over 2.5 goals.
Hot Stats and Streaks
Four of Spain’s last six matches saw their opponents on the day receive a red card.
Spain opened the scoring inside ten minutes of three of their last five UNL fixtures.
England have led four of their five games in this UNL cycle at half-time (HT: D1).
Just one of England’s last seven matches produced over 9.5 corners.
Key Players to Watch and Missing Players
On target on matchday five, Álex Baena also scored in the reverse fixture and has seen each of his five Spain goals come in competitive victories, though none arrived inside the opening 30 minutes. After his assist on Thursday, Jude Bellingham has now directly contributed to 14 goals in his last 13 England appearances (G8, A6) and has laid on an assist in the last two H2Hs.
Lamine Yamal, Aymeric Laporte, Nico Williams and Mikel Oyarzabal all missed Spain’s last game but are in line to return here. England look to have no fresh issues.
For all the latest team news, please check the Flashscore match centre.
Betting Analysis
Given recent H2H meetings, both teams to score and over 2.5 goals looks a fairly safe avenue to explore.
Author: Ryan Fisher