If you’ve been watching Spain in the two matches they have been involved in, against Croatia and Italy, like us, you must have been impressed.
Entertaining to watch, it often feels like they are capable of scoring at any time (unlike England), and they must fancy their chances of going all the way in this tournament.
We have also been impressed with Albania, especially the way they never gave up against Croatia, equalising deep into injury time.
They will know that in the last two European Championships, four points have been enough for teams to qualify for the round of 16 as the runners-up with the most points, but to get those four points, they need to beat Spain, a tall order if ever there was one.
Odds and Predictions
Spain will likely give a run out to some of their squad players for this match but don’t forget this is Spain, their squad players would walk into most teams’ starting eleven.
Spain are odds on favourites at 1.36, Albania are priced at 8.50 and the odds for the draw are 4.75.
We’ve got to admit that deciding on the predictions for this match has been a tricky one. Spain has been invincible so far, but surely, the grit and determination of the Albanian team must count for something.
That being said, we’ve decided to stick to the obvious for our main tips and go for a little bit of insurance, just in case, for the final bet of our predictions.
So, the recommendation is for Spain to win with a scoreline of 0 – 2, the correct score is priced at 7.0.
For the insurance bet, we have decided on Albania to win or draw at odds of 3.0, just in case!
Comparison and Statistics from Past Meetings Between the Teams
Albania and Spain have faced each other H2H a total of 8 times in international football with Spain winning all 8 matches, no draws.
Here is a list of their last five head-to-head matches.
| Past Meetings | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 26 Mar 2022 | spain | 2-1 | albania | Friendly Game |
| 06 Oct 2017 | spain | 3-0 | albania | FIFA World Cup Qualifier |
| 09 Oct 2016 | albania | 0-2 | spain | FIFA World Cup Qualifier |
| 22 Sep 1993 | albania | 1-5 | spain | FIFA World Cup Qualifier |
| 22 Apr 1992 | spain | 3-0 | albania | FIFA World Cup Qualifier |
Expected Line Ups
It is easy to underestimate the quality of this Albania team, Chelsea’s Armando Broja and Elseid Hysaj from Lazio being just two examples. Quality players and a never-say-die attitude mean that Spain should not take a win for granted.
As already mentioned, it is difficult to predict the team that Luis de la Fuente will pick, as Spain are already through to the round of 16. Still, it will be a strong one, even if a number of squad players are included, you can bet they will be playing out of their skin in order to be considered for the next match.
Albania (4-3-3): Etrit Berisha; Elseid Hysaj, Berat Djimsiti, Marash Kumbulla, Mario Mitaj; Klaus Gjasula, Ylber Ramadani, Nedim Bajrami; Jasir Asani, Armando Broja, Rey Manaj.
Spain (4-3-3): Unai Simón; Dani Carvajal, Aymeric Laporte, Robin Le Normand, Alejandro Grimaldo; Rodri, Pedri, Mikel Merino; Dani Olmo, Álvaro Morata, Ferran Torres.
How Far Will These Teams Progress in the Tournament?
Spain has been impressive so far and the odds on them to lift the trophy are 6.5, which is generous in our opinion, especially when you consider that England are 5.5!!!
A win for Albania could see them qualify as one of the runners-up with the most points, but to be honest, we can’t see them getting anything out of this match.
