UEFA Nations League preview: England look to secure first points against Spain

The Three Lions lost the corresponding fixture at Wembley 2-1 and need a result

The return of the UEFA Nations League means another test for Gareth Southgate and the young England side he has built, as they head to Spain looking for their first three points in this new continental competition. Spain defeated the Three Lions at Wembley last month, coming from behind to win 2-1, and followed that up with a 6-0 win over Croatia – Luis Enrique has made an excellent start to life in the Spanish dugout.

Getting the ball rolling

First things first, swing by the Oddsshark website, procure your favourite betting agency and sort out your own account with a username and password. As a new customer and with the UEFA Nations League already up and running, there should be a whole host of promotions and special offers available to you.

Where can I win money in this clash?

After the disappointment of their second round exit at the World Cup earlier this summer, Spain have hit the ground running under former Barcelona boss Luis Enrique. They have won both of their UEFA Nations League matches so far, and in their most recent friendly encounter thrashed Wales 4-1, meaning that the Spanish have now scored a whopping 12 goals in their last three matches.

England, by way of comparison, have struggled for on the field results as Southgate opts for younger, rawer players as he plans for the long term. The three Lions have won just two of their last six encounters, including their most recent match, a 1-0 friendly win over Switzerland last month.

But it is of little surprise to see Spain come into this match as the red hot favourites to maintain their 100 per cent start to the UEFA Nations League. You can back Enrique’s side to take all three points at just 1.80, with England all the way out at 4.50 to get their first win in the tournament – a draw is priced in the middle, at 3.50, according to Oddsshark.

A comfortable evening for Spain

And while England may be producing an exciting generation for the future, the current crop of senior starts simply do not measure up against the truly elite level sides in international football. As proven in that World Cup semi-final against Croatia, there is not enough ingenuity and fluidity in the English midfield, and Spain should be able to bypass it with relative ease.

As such, we are expecting a relatively comfortable evening for Spain and they are likely to win this one without breaking too much of a sweat. A 2-0 win for the home side is priced at 8.00, meaning that a US$5 bet would lead to a US$40 pay out, while you can back under 2.5 goals in the game at 1.80.

Of course, trying to predict exact score lines can be a tricky business and you my well feel it is a safer bet simply betting on the winning margin. As such, you can more than triple your money by backing Spain to win by a single goal at 3.60, while they are at 5.00 to win by a two-goal margin and 8.50 to win by a difference of three goals.

Spain to make a fast start

In their recent 4-1 win over Wales, the Spanish took the lead inside 10 minutes and never looked back. We like the look of them making a similarly fast start against England, thus allowing themselves to control the tempo of the game while their opponents go in search of an equaliser.

You can back over 0.5 goals in the first 10 minutes t a price of 4.50, while Spain are at 8.00 to be ahead inside that time frame. In addition, another good way of tripling your investment would be to back Spain to win to nil (without England scoring a goal) at a price of 3.00.

England may well be able to compete for short intervals with Spain, but over the course of 90 minutes it is a very different story. While this should not be a thrashing, Spain should have the lion’s share of possession, and a Spain victory, combined with under 2.5 goals in the game, comes in at 4.00.

Finally, you may also back the total number of goals in the match. Under two goals is at 3.50, while two or three goals sees the price drop to 1.95 and over three goals rises to 3.40 – it is unlikely to be a high scoring game, but it should still be Spain’s night.

UEFA Nations League fixtures:

Saturday, 13 October

(2.15) Slovakia v Czech Republic (3.75); draw (3.40)

(1.083) Armenia x Gibraltar (34.00); draw (13.00)

(1.14) Georgia x Andorra (34.00); draw (8.00)

(2.80) Latvia x Kazakhstan (3.00); draw (3.00)

(1.70) Norway x Slovenia (6.00); draw (3.70)

(1.57) Bulgaria x Cyprus (7.50); draw (3.90)

(1.11) Macedonia x Liechtenstein (26.00); draw (11.00)

(3.50) Holland x Germany (2.10); draw (3.75)

(3.10) Ireland x Denmark (2.62); draw (3.10)

Sunday, 14 October

(2.75) Poland x Italy (2.62); draw (3.10)

Monday, 15 October

(4.50) Iceland x Switzerland (1.72); draw (3.75)

(1.80) Spain x England (4.50); draw (3.50)