The second round of 2020 European Championship qualifying games in this international window begin on Monday 10th June. One of the biggest matches is the meeting between Spain and Sweden at the Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid.
As things stand in Group F, Spain lead with 9 points from their three games, with Sweden in second place on 7 points from their three matches. A win for the Spanish could open a nice gap between themselves and the rest of the group but a win for Sweden would see them move top.
Spain have played three, won three in 2020 European Championship qualifying Group F. They started the campaign with a 2-1 win over Norway at home. It wasn’t a convincing victory but was enough to take maximum points. There was little doubt in the second game as Spain won 2-0 in Malta and they followed that with a 4-1 win in the Faroe Islands on Friday night.
Those results mean Spain have won each of their last four games and that comes after two straight defeats saw them finish second in the Nations League. Trends show they have lost just one of their last sixteen home matches, with the only defeat coming at the hands of England in the Nations League.
Spain have won twelve of those sixteen home games and have scored 3 or more goals in nine of those matches.
Sweden started their qualifying campaign in similar fashion to the Spanish by winning 2-1 on home soil. They defeated Romania at the Friends Arena, Solna. However, they were held to a 3-3 draw at Norway in a thrilling second match of the group. Sweden fell 2-0 down after 59 minutes but came back score 3 goals inside the final 20 minutes to take the lead only to concede an equaliser in the 97th minute.
The Swedes had little trouble in picking up maximum points on Friday as they defeated Malta 3-0 at home.
Away form shows Sweden have lost one of their last five but they have only managed to win one of those games. The victory came against Turkey in the Nations League and Sweden topped their group.
Looking ahead to the team news and Spain could afford to withdraw some players early in the match against Faroe Islands. That suggests Sergio Ramos, Isco and Iago Aspas could all be used again from the start in this game.
Sweden may opt for a more defensive set-up than they played against Malta. That could mean a start in defence for Ludwig Augustinsson or an extra man played in midfield at the expense of Marcus Berg.
There is no doubt Spain are the favourites to win this game. They have the home advantage and should come out on top but do not expect it to be easy. Forebet predicts win for Spain and more than 2.5 goals in the match.