Iran – Spain Prediction & Picks (20.06.2018)

Iran and Spain meet at Kazan Arena, in a match for this phase of the World Cup (Group Stage). This will be the first direct confrontation between these two teams, as they have never faced each other before.

Iran:

The team comes to this second day of Group B after a victory in its opening in this group stage, against Morocco, by (0-1). In the last 10 matches played for all competitions, Iran won 7, tied 1 and lost 2. Their attack has scored frequently, since they have scored goals in 9 of the last 10 matches. In their matches there is a tendency to have few goals, since 13 of their last 25 matches have ended with Under 1,5 goals and 17 out of 25 have ended with Under 2,5 goals. In the last 20 matches for all competitions there is 1 period that stands out: they scored 12 of their 32 goals between minutes (46′-60 ‘).

Iran was one of the good surprises of the first day of the group stage of the World Cup, as it defeated the Moroccan national team by 0-1. In that match, Iran played a very intelligent game, waited for the opponent and acted in the counterattack, scoring the winning goal at 95 ‘. In this game against the powerful Spain, the strategy will be very identical to the one of the last day, benefiting the organization of its defensive block and the counterattacks. However, it is important to note that the Iranians have several weaknesses in the maintenance of possession of the ball and in the defensive transition. For this game the coach must use a starting eleven very similar to the previous match.

Spain:

The team disputes its second match in Group B, after having tied for (3-3) in its first match in this group stage, against Portugal. In the last 10 matches played for all competitions, Spain won 6 and tied 4. Their attack has scored regularly, as they have always scored at least one goal in the last 10 matches. There is a tendency for goals in their matches, since 21 of the last 23 matches they played have ended with Over 1,5 goals. This is a team that usually does not feel difficult to open the scoring: it scored the first goal in 14 of the last 15 games, of these 14 came to the break in advantage in 9 and managed to maintain the advantage until the end of the 90 ‘in 10 .

Spain led one of the best matches of the first day of this competition, in a three-way draw against the Portuguese team, however, could have left the field with a victory, as they suffered the goal of the draw very close to the end of the 90s’. After having faced the strongest rival of the group, the Spaniards have everything to defeat the two remaining parties, against Iran and Morocco. In this game against Iran, coach Fernando Hierro will play with a tactical system based on 4-3-3, privileging the maintenance of ball possession and organized attacks, since he has technically very skilled players: Iniesta is the great star of this Spanish team. On the other hand, the forward Diego Costa showed that he is going through a good moment of form, since he scored 2 goals in the last game. Everything indicates that the coach has all the staff at his disposal.