Spain vs Ukraine Prediction & Betting Tips - UEFA Nations League

Prediction published on 04/09/2020, 00:54  by Daniel Ngulu | Modified on 04/09/2020 at 01:00 in UEFA Nations League Predictions

After the opening round of the 2020/21 UEFA Nations League, Spain will be hosting Ukraine in the second, this Sunday in Madrid. Ukraine took an early lead in Group 4 of League A, with a 2-1 home win over Switzerland while Spain battled to a 1-1 draw with Germany. Jose Luis Gaya saved Spain from defeat with a goal deep in injury time after Timo Werner’s opener in the 51st minute and Spain will look to build on this against Ukraine. It was Spain’s first match of the year and the result marked a 12th straight unbeaten outing for the former world champions. The last time Spain failed to score in a match was four years ago, in a 2-0 loss to Italy. Since then, they have scored in 41 straight matches. They have scored two or more in seven of their last 10 and have six straight wins when playing at home, as well as five clean sheets in the six matches. Spain’s last five matches at home, all competitive action, have seen them score 21 goals and concede just one. However, they didn’t have a very good experience at the Nations League last time out; they finished second to England and lost their last two matches in the group. The draw with Germany makes it three straight winless outings for Spain in this competition.

Ukraine’s match against Switzerland was also the country’s first outing this year, after last playing out a 2-2 draw with Serbia in November 2019. While a lot of teams have been a bit rusty due to a long layoff, Ukraine took their chances and bagged three points against one of the group’s favorites. Manchester City defender Oleksandr Zinchenko popped the winner in the 68th minute after Andriy Yarmolenko and Haris Seferovic had traded first half goals. Now with their leadership of the group, Ukraine will hope they can upset another favorite, having been promoted from League B after topping a group that had Czech Republic and Slovakia in the first edition of this competition. Just like Spain, Ukraine are unbeaten in 12 matches. Their last loss came in the Nations League, when they fell 4-1 to Slovakia in the final group game in November 2018. They have scored in 10 of the 12 matches, in eight of these, two goals or more. Away from home, they have one loss and six wins in 13 matches but they have won just two of their last six away games. Ukraine are not goal shy when playing away from home; they have scored in 10 of their last 13 away matches and will definitely give Spain a run for their money. These two sides last met in 2015 in a Euro qualifier and Spain won 1-0. Ukraine have lost four and drawn one in the five meetings they have had with Spain.