Estadio Manuel Martínez Valero in Elche will be the home of tonight’s Nations League match between Spain and Croatia, set to kick off at 20:45 CET.
Spain vs Croatia Bet365 Odds
Spain vs Croatia Preview
Spain comes into the game on the wings of a 2-1 victory against England at Wembley, whereas Croatia managed a 1-1 draw in Portugal. The last time they faced off was during the group stage of Euro 2016, a match Croatia won 2-1 thanks to goals by Nikola Kalinic and Ivan Perisic. Perisic scored in the game against Portugal and is currently on a three-game goal streak, so Luis Enrique might want to keep an eye on Inter’s winger. That 2016 win was Croatia’s first and only in five encounters with Spain. La Roja has won three, while one finished as a 0-0 draw.
Gerard Pique, David Silva, and Andres Iniesta retired from the national team while Jordi Alba was excluded by Luis Enrique and Diego Costa withdrew for personal reasons. Therefore, Spain had an unwonted look in England, one that Julen Lopetegui experimented with while he was still in charge with Iago Aspas and Rodrigo as the main strikers. Rodrigo was excellent, scoring one and assisting on the other goal for Spain. Aspas was less prominent and so could be swapped with Alvaro Morata. Enrique has already put his stamp on the Spanish team as their current intensity and movement on the pitch is superior to what we saw during the World Cup.
Zlatko Dalic was without Mario Mandzukic, captain Danijel Subasic and Ivan Rakitic for the Portugal match. The first two will miss out again, but Rakitic should be back in the starting lineup to face his fellow Spaniards in what would be his 100th cap.
Spain vs Croatia Bet365 Odds
Spain 1.6 (3/5)
Draw 4 (3/1)
Croatia 6.5 (11/2)
The odds on Spain have been steadily dropping since their win in England. Even though Croatia is the World Cup finalists, Spain is the favorites.
Spain has kept just two clean sheets in their last ten matches, while Croatia has scored in their last nine. Spain has also scored in 25 consecutive contests, so it is reasonable to expect goals to fall in this fixture.