The 2022-23 UEFA Nations League gets underway this week. On Thursday, Spain and Portugal clash in one of the standout ties of Matchday 1.
Spain and Portugal are joined by the Czech Republic and Switzerland in Group A2, so the European giants are expected to snap up the top two spots in the group.
😏 Iba a dejar esta foto de @CesarAzpi, @daniolmo7 y @ANSUFATI para mañana, pero es que no puedo con la intriga.📸 ¿Os imagináis esta foto subtitulada? ¿Qué pensará cada uno? Os leo..., pero ya con la luz de un nuevo día.😴 ¡¡Buenas noches!!#VamosEspaña | #NationsLeague pic.twitter.com/BmfRxFx6PG— Selección Española de Fútbol (@SeFutbol) May 30, 2022
😏 Iba a dejar esta foto de @CesarAzpi, @daniolmo7 y @ANSUFATI para mañana, pero es que no puedo con la intriga.📸 ¿Os imagináis esta foto subtitulada? ¿Qué pensará cada uno? Os leo..., pero ya con la luz de un nuevo día.😴 ¡¡Buenas noches!!#VamosEspaña | #NationsLeague pic.twitter.com/BmfRxFx6PG
The Spaniards were runners-up in the 2020-21 UEFA Nations League, losing to France in the final. Meanwhile, Portugal finished behind France in the group stage.
Spain have lost just three of their 19 games since the start of 2021, picking up 13 wins and four draws along the way.
La Roja have also won seven of their previous eight encounters across all competitions, keeping six clean sheets in the process.
The Spaniards reached the semi-finals of last season’s European Championship. However, they ended up falling to eventual champions Italy on penalties.
Last time out, Spain crushed Iceland 5-0 in a friendly back in March. Alvaro Morata and Pablo Sarabia both bagged a brace on that occasion.
Meanwhile, Portugal’s last match was slightly more important. Fernando Santos’ side beat North Macedonia 2-0 to secure World Cup qualification via the play-offs.
That victory means that Portugal head into Thursday’s clash on a run of seven wins in nine matches across all competitions.
When you look at the bigger picture, the Portuguese have lost just three of their 18 games since the start of 2021.
That said, they failed to make it past the round of 16 at Euro 2020 – losing to Belgium in the first knockout phase.
Head-to-head: Portugal have only managed to win six of the 38 meetings between them and Spain across all competitions.
Interestingly, the previous three meetings between Spain and Portugal ended in a draw – including back-to-back goalless draws in 2020 and 2021.
Team news: Manchester City star Aymeric Laporte has withdrawn from the Spain squad due to injury, with Leeds United defender Diego Llorente replacing him.
As for Portugal, Cristiano Ronaldo has been called up to the 26-man squad. However, Man City centre-back Ruben Dias will miss out through injury.
The last two meetings between Spain and Portugal ended in draws, meaning we should see another tight match this time around.
With that in mind, Forebet predicts that Spain and Portugal will kick off the 2022-23 UEFA Nations League with a goalless stalemate.