Spain vs Serbia prediction: EUROPE: UEFA Nations League – League A betting tips on match 2024-10-14 18:45.
[p]Spain began this international break with a hard-fought 1-0 win over Denmark to seize control of their UEFA Nations League (UNL) group and increase their prospects of reaching the quarter-finals of the competition. Another victory here would put Serbia out of reach and confirm La Roja’s play-off place with two matches to spare. That’s probably the expectation from manager Luis de la Fuente, who won the last UNL in just his fourth game in charge.[/p]
[p]Spain have gone from strength to strength, having only lost twice in 24 internationals under their current boss (W20, D2, L2), a run which includes two major honours. Despite their recent footballing dominance however, Spain’s overall UNL home record hasn’t been wholly impressive (W6, D1, L2), although the fact that their six wins as hosts in this competition have come by a combined 20-0 scoreline suggests that they potentially have a big result up their sleeve.[/p]
[p]Trying to dent that record, Serbia look to be vying with Denmark for a place in the UNL play-offs after keeping Switzerland pointless with a comfortable 2-0 win on Saturday. Relief may have been the prevailing emotion for head coach Dragan Stojković in the wake of that triumph, as he was enduring his longest wait for a victory since his 2021 appointment (D3, L2), with Serbia now seeking consecutive wins for the first time in more than a year.[/p]
[p]Such an outcome would be a fairytale for a nation who began their UNL life in the third tier back in 2018, although the fact that they’ve never scored against Spain suggests that this match will be far from easy (D1, L1). This is without doubt Serbia’s toughest-ever UNL trip, but their away record in this competition is not to be sniffed at (W4, D4, L2), so they’ll hope to at least find the net, just as they did in eight of those ten games.[/p]
[p]Players to watch: Ferran Torres has both scored and assisted in three of his last five goal-contributing appearances for club and country, two of which came for Spain. Lazar Samardžić is yet to open his account for Serbia, and he may have to wait if he’s to do so here as his last three club goals arrived on or beyond the 85th minute. [/p]
[p]Hot stat: None of Serbia’s last four UNL away games were level at half-time (HT: W3, L1). [/p]
[p][i]Written by Matthew Billon[/i][/p]