Spain vs Czech Republic LIVE Football Score 12 June 2022
Spain will look to end the month’s UEFA Nations League fixtures on a high note when they welcome Czech Republic to Malaga for Sunday’s League A Group 2 encounter.La Roja scraped a 1-0 win over Switzerland during their midweek battle, while the visitors’ most recent Iberian trip saw them suffer a 2-0 loss to Portugal.Third time was the charm for Spain in the Nations League, as Luis Enrique’s side bounced back from one-pointers against the Czechs and Portugal to quell a hapless Switzerland side on Thursday evening.
Reverting to arguably their strongest XI amid the unforgiving fixture schedule, La Roja struck through Pablo Sarabia in the 13th minute, and that was enough to get them over the line against the section’s basement side and force Portugal to look over their shoulder.With three games gone, the 2020-21 Nations League runners-up occupy second spot in the League A Group 2 rankings and are within touching distance of Portugal, who are the next visitors to Geneva, so all may come down to their heavyweight showdown on matchday six three months from now.
Enrique has now overseen a seven-game unbeaten streak in all tournaments since Spain went down to France in last year’s showpiece event, and Spain have also found the back of the net in each of their last 17 games since being held by Sweden at Euro 2020 – not half bad given the lack of celebrated strikers of old.
A resolute start to life with the big boys counted for nought during the Czech Republic’s showdown with Portugal, as the Selecao comfortably dispatched their opponents by two goals to nil at the Estadio Jose Alvalade.Bernardo Silva set up Joao Cancelo and Goncalo Guedes in the opening 45 minutes to kill off any hopes of a positive Czech Republic result early doors, but Jaroslav Silhavy’s side can still be satisfied with their month’s work during their inaugural League A campaign.
Staying in League A would be a minor consolation for the Czech Republic following their World Cup Qualifying playoff heartache, and Silhavy’s side currently occupy third spot in the rankings and cannot be usurped by Switzerland no matter what transpires here.The world’s 33rd-ranked nation are still searching for their first away clean sheet in the Nations League but ought to take the positives from their first meeting with Spain earlier this month, which ended with La Roja rescuing a point right at the death through Inigo Martinez in a 2-2 draw.
However, that four-goal thriller stretched the visitors’ winless run against Spain to six matches in all tournaments, and La Roja boast a perfect record of three wins from three versus the Czech Republic on familiar territory.While he was able to watch from the sidelines on Thursday night, Ansu Fati’s fitness concerns are still bedevilling him, and it is unclear if the Barcelona starlet will be ready for any minutes this weekend.
Striker Raul de Tomas has also left the camp due to an infection, which could therefore see Ferran Torres operate as a makeshift number nine if Enrique continues his policy of rotation – dropping Alvaro Morata to the bench in the process as Marco Asensio comes back in.The hosting manager leapt to the defence of Unai Simon and Diego Llorente following shaky moments in the win over Switzerland, although Eric Garcia can expect to be drafted in for the latter either way.
The Czech Republic have also seen one player leave the camp in the form of Jakub Jankto, who suffered a knock in the first meeting with Spain and has been replaced by Stanislav Tecl.Jaroslav Zeleny was fit enough to take his place on the bench against Portugal and is now in contention to return on the left-hand side, while Tomas Vaclik ought to return in goal for Jindrich Stanek.Jan Kuchta and Ondrej Lingr’s spots are also at risk following half-time withdrawals on Thursday night, while Alex Kral could be drafted in if Tomas Soucek or Michal Sadilek’s legs are in need of a break.
Spain and the Czech Republic square off Sunday in a match that could set one team up for a big showdown with Portugal for the top of the group in the 2022-23 UEFA Nations League. Spain is second in the League A Group 2 standings with five points, while the Czechs are third with four. The Portuguese lead the group with seven points heading into Matchday 4, and they are set to face Switzerland on Sunday in Geneva. Spain and the Czech Republic met on Matchday 2 last Sunday, and they played to a 2-2 stalemate. La Roja played to a 1-1 draw with Portugal in their Nations League opener June 2, then beat Switzerland 1-0 on Thursday. The Czech Republic kicked things off with a 2-1 win against the Swiss but suffered a 2-0 loss to Portugal on Thursday. The Spaniards are 4-2-0 all-time against the Czechs.
Kickoff is set for 2:45 p.m. ET at La Rosaleda in Malaga, Spain. Spain is the -330 favorite (risk $330 to win $100) on the 90-minute money line in the latest Spain vs. Czech Republic odds from Caesars Sportsbook, while Czech Republic is a +900 underdog. A 90-minute draw is priced at +430 and the over-under for total goals scored is 2.5. Before you bet the Czech Republic vs. Spain match or make any UEFA Nations League predictions, you need to see what proven soccer insider Martin Green has to say.
