The top two qualifying spaces for the 2020 European Championship have already been decided In Group F. Spain and Sweden are the two teams who have booked their place in the finals and nothing can change that in the final round of matches.
However, every team will want to finish the campaign on a high and Spain have an unbeaten record to defend as they host Romania on the 18th of November. The match will be played at the Wanda Metropolitano, Madrid.
Spain begin in this game at the top of the group with 23 points from their 9 matches played. They cannot be caught by Sweden but having won 7 and drawn 2 of their games the Spanish will want to maintain their undefeated record in the group by winning this match.
It was plain sailing for the Spanish in the first 6 games of the group as they won each of those matches. The first dropped points came away against Norway which ended 1-1 and the Spanish were held to a draw in Sweden and that match also finished 1-1.
🤓 Teniendo en cuenta que el césped del Wanda Metropolitano mide 68 metros de ancho y que @Thiago6 y Rodri son capaces de enviar 9 veces el balón de banda a banda en 1⃣ minuto...⚽ ¡ESTE BALÓN ESTÁ RECORRIENDO 612 METROS POR MINUTO!🤪#UnidosPorUnRETO pic.twitter.com/u9xYL6sBn6— Selección Española de Fútbol (@SeFutbol) November 17, 2019
🤓 Teniendo en cuenta que el césped del Wanda Metropolitano mide 68 metros de ancho y que @Thiago6 y Rodri son capaces de enviar 9 veces el balón de banda a banda en 1⃣ minuto...⚽ ¡ESTE BALÓN ESTÁ RECORRIENDO 612 METROS POR MINUTO!🤪#UnidosPorUnRETO pic.twitter.com/u9xYL6sBn6
Trends show Spain undefeated in their last 10 games having previously suffered 2 defeats in the Nations League against Croatia and England. They have lost only one of their last 18 home games and have scored 2 or more goals in 6 of their last 7 at home. Spain have also kept 5 clean sheets in those 7 games.
Romania needed to defeat Sweden at home on Friday night to have entered this game with any chance of finishing in the top two places. However, things did not go according to plan and Romania conceded 2 goals in the first half to eventually lose the match 2-0. It was their 3rd defeat in 9 matches in this group with the other 2 losses coming against Sweden away and Spain at home.
Trends show Romania have won 2 of their last 5 matches with the victories coming at home against Malta and away to the Faroe Islands. Their away form shows they have been difficult to beat and Romania have lost only one of their last 9 away games. The defeat came against Sweden in this group but Romania have defeated Israel, Lithuania, Montenegro, Malta and Faroe Islands.
Unfortunately for the Romanians, this game is going to be much tougher than any of their victories above.
Team news and Spain could make several changes to the team which defeated Malta on Friday night. David De Gea, Paco Alcacer, Sergio Busquets, Dani Carvajal and Saul could all come into the starting XI.
Romania will be hoping Claudiu Keșerü can find his goal scoring touch in this game and in doing so finish as top scorer in the group. Ianis Hagi will be hoping to start the match having featured from the bench against Sweden.
Romania have a good recent away record but have not played anyone as good as Spain. The Spanish should have more than enough to win this game and could do so by keeping a clean sheet.