Albania vs Spain
Merkur Spiel-Arena, Düsseldorf
24.04.2024, 22:00
Group B winner, Spain, will take on third-place Albania at Merkur Spiel-Arena in Düsseldorf in the final group stage day in the UEFA Euro Group B. While Albania's chances of making it to the next round of this competition remain open, they will look to pick maximum points at all costs in this game. Can La Roja sweep this group as favorites in this game?
Claim Your Welcome Bonus!Albania
Everything looked like the end of the road for Albania in this year's tournament after an own goal by Klaus Gjasula in the 76th minute that saw his side lead to defeat until a 90+5 minute strike from him to rescue a point in that encounter.
However, their opener saw them lose to Italy in a 2-1 encounter, after the Azzurri scored twice in 6 minutes to overturn Nedim Bajrami's 1st-minute goal. However, there is now a lot of positivity to take for this side after their relentless and superb performance against World Cup runners-up Croatia last week.
In the meantime, pre-match facts do not look good for Albania as they have conceded at least two goals in all their eight defeats against Spain in all competitions, with their 9-0 defeat against Spain in 1990 remaining their heaviest-ever defeat in international matches. Yet, despite being positioned 3rd in the standings above Croatia on goal difference, Albania will finish second if they can stun the Spaniards and Croatia beat Italy by no more than two goals at the very least, qualifying for the last 16 as one of the four best third-placed sides is not beyond the realm of possibility either.
Spain
Spain will look to win their first three games in a single edition of the UEFA European Championship for only the second time in their history. However, the first time they achieved this feat, the La Roja team won the trophy in the 2008 tournament.
La Roja, however, has incredibly performed well in this tournament following strong performances in game 1 and 2. When entering this tournament, few people could have tipped this side as a possible side to win. Still, with their results against tough opponents, Croatia and Italy, they now look like a threat and one of the favorite sides to make it to the finals.
Heading into this game, Spain have won their first two games, the first against Croatia in a 3-0 fashion before defeating defending champions Italy through Ricardo Calafiori's own goal despite failing to convert multiple chances of their own with Gianluigi Donnarumma also denying them some good goal scoring opportunities.
Albania Possible Starting Lineup:
Strakosha; Hysaj, Ajeti, Djimsiti, Mitaj; Asllani, Ramadani; Asani, Laci, Bajrami; Manaj
Spain Possible Starting Lineup:
Raya; Navas, Vivian, Laporte, Grimaldo; Merino, Zubimendi, Baena; Torres, Joselu, Oyarzabal
Expert Betting Tips
Spain are just too good for this Albania side despite the fact we saw several promising plays from the Albania team. At the moment, Albania needed a win more in this game, and we can trust them to give the best effort in this game, as Spain will miss their number 4, Rodri and could also have some of their most important players on the bench. Yet, we saw the difference De la Fuente's Spanish side substitutions could make and then, it is tough to write them off or see Albania have a chance after their performances against Croatia and Italy. Without a doubt, bet on Spain to win with a margin of two goals, a game that should end with a score of 0-2.