Switzerland vs Spain
Switzerland vs Spain is the first quarter-final of Euro2020 and takes place on July 2 in St Petersburg. Switzerland came back from 3-1 down to take their round of 16 game into extra time before beating France on penalties. They face a Spain side who also needed extra time to progress against Croatia, winning 5-3 after 120 minutes. Read on for more analysis, match predictions and betting tips.
Form
When Paul Pogba busted a move on the pitch to celebrate his goal for France to make it 3-1, it looked very unlikely that the Swiss would still be in the tournament now. Ricardo Rodriguez’s missed penalty to put Switzerland 2-0 up looked like it was the decisive moment of the match and the Swiss fans in the stands were resigned to seeing their team exit. However, this has not been that kind of tournament and when Granit Xhaka released Mario Gavranovic with a perfect pass, the Dinamo Zagreb forward smashed home the equaliser. That penalty win means that Switzerland have bettered their previous best of a round of 16 finish set back in 2016. Now their biggest challenge awaits.
Spain were also victims of the last minute equaliser to make a round of 16 game 3-3, but unlike the French they were able to step up another gear in the extra half hour and scored twice more to book their passage to the last eight. It was the second time in two games Spain have scored five times in a game, and extended their unbeaten run to 12 games. However, if you count the game against Croatia as a draw (as it was after 90 minutes), that was Spain’s seventh tied game in that period of time. The three-time European Champions will need to up their game a bit if they are to get through this one in normal time.
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Injuries
Granit Xhaka picked up a yellow card in the round of 16 game that will keep him out of the quarter-final, which is a huge blow for Vladimir Petkovic. Xhaka was the best player in his team against France, and his presence will be keenly missed. A possible replacement will be Mainz midfielder Edmilson Fernandes but it will be a big ask for him to make his first appearance of the tournament in such a big game. Gavranovic will have made a case to start ahead of Breel Embolo but the Dinamo Zagreb forward may be seen as an impact sub to be brought on to bolster attacking options against tired legs.
Spain forward Alvaro Morata finally found the back of the net in extra time against Croatia, which will do the Juventus forward no end of good. All three starting forwards scored in the game and it’s likely Pablo Sarabia and Ferran Torres will start with Morata again. Jordi Alba should return to the side in place of Valencia left-back Jose Gaya for this game. Gaya had been preferred to Alba for the Croatia match but exited with an injury after 77 minutes.
Match Predictions
Spain are hot and heavy favourites for this game with the bookies offering around 1.67-1.70 against a Spanish victory. However, this tournament has shown that strength on paper doesn’t always count for much and the last time these two teams met in the Nations League, the match finished as a draw. With both teams involved in games that have produced a slew of goals in this tournament there may be value betting tips in the over 2.5 goals market with some bookies offering as high as 2.00 against that. One thing is for sure; we’ve seen both teams affected by late goals and if it’s still close late on then it could be anyone’s.
