Portugal – Spain Prediction & Picks (15.06.2018)

Portugal and Spain measure forces, in a match for this phase of the World Cup (Group Stage). There is no recent record of direct confrontations between these two teams, who have not played any matches in the last 3 years. The last time they met was on 27-06-2012, in a match that ended with the final score: Portugal (0-0) Spain.

Portugal:

The team will make its debut in this edition of the competition, as it did not have to play any of the qualifiers prior to this group stage. In the last match they played, for the Friendlies, they beat Algeria by (3-0). In the last 10 matches Portugal have 6 wins, 3 draws and 1 loss. Their attack has scored regularly, since they have scored goals in 8 of the last 10 matches. In 15 matches, they suffered the first goal 4 times, but got the comeback in 2. In the last 20 matches for all competitions there is 1 period in highlight: they suffered 5 of their 14 goals between the minutes (31′-45 ‘).

The Portuguese team, European champion, has improved a lot in recent years and currently occupies the fourth position in the FIFA Ranking. If we analyze the whole history it is possible to notice that the Portuguese dispute the fifth consecutive World Cup, since their best partition was in 1966, when they achieved the 3rd position. In fact, Portugal is the current European champion and therefore aims to make a great performance in this World Cup. The coach Fernando Santos usually acts in a 4-4-2, priviligiando possession of the ball and organized attacks, however, in this match must use a strategy based on the counterattack: Bernardo Silva is very fast and strong in this type of transition. On the other hand, the game of Portugal passes the star Cristiano Ronaldo, player who will surely line up in the starting lineup. Everything indicates that the coach will be able to count on all the players for this competition.

Spain:

The team had direct access to this group stage, so they will play their first match in this edition of the competition. The team comes to this match after a victory with Tunisia by (0-1). In the last 10 matches played for all competitions, España won 7 and tied 3. Their attack has scored regularly, since 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 scores many times first: opened the scoring in 13 of its last 15 games, of these 13 came to the break in advantage in 9 and managed to maintain the advantage until the end of the 90 ‘in 9.

Spain is one of the great selections of the world soccer, counts in its palmarés a World Cup, conquered in 2010, and three European Cups, conquered in 1964, 2008 and 2012. However, we can affirm that the Spaniards arrive to this competition with some penalties, since they have been eliminated in the group stage in the 2014 World Cup and in Euro 2016 did not go beyond the round of 16. In this way, it is clear that Spain arrives at this World Cup with great confidence and ambition. In this game against Portugal, coach Julen Lopetegui must play in 4-3-3, with Diego Costa being the most offensive reference of this selection. In addition, Spain must opt ​​for a more dominant strategy, as it has players of high technical quality. Gerard Piqué and Daniel Carvajal are recovered and have already trained without limitations.