Football prediction Spain vs Italy: Croatia waiting for opponent

The Spanish national team has been in poor form recently, after the failure at the 2022 World Cup. Under new coach Luis de la Fuente, the team had a poor start in the EURO 2024 qualifiers with only one win in the first two matches, although their group was not difficult.

This has Spanish football fans worried ahead of the Nations League semi-finals, a tournament they have not been doing badly in under coach Luis Enrique, and in 2022 they have advanced from a group containing Portugal, Switzerland and the Czech Republic.

Football prediction Spain vs Italy: Croatia waiting for opponent - 1 — Spain are on course to reach the Nations League final for the second consecutive time.

The Spanish national team will no longer have Sergio Busquets after the 2022 World Cup. However, in the midfield anchor position, coach De la Fuente still has Rodri - the player who just won the Champions League with Man City.

Pedri and Ferran Torres are not available. Meanwhile, Dani Olmo is not sure to recover from injury. This is an opportunity for new players like Fran Garcia and Robin Le Normand to make their mark on coach De la Fuente.

Meanwhile, Italy got through a strong group with Germany, England and Hungary. However, the performance of the blue team in the Nations League was less than convincing, with only 3 wins in 6 matches.

After failing to qualify for the 2022 World Cup, the reigning EURO champions lost two more matches against Austria (friendly) and England (EURO 2024 qualifiers). Italy's problem remains their ability to score goals. Coach Roberto Mancini's team still dominates ball control, plays attractive attacks against opponents but lacks top strikers.

The head-to-head record between the two teams has been in Spain's favour in recent years. Since 2012, Spain have won five matches, drawn three and lost just two against Italy. The most recent meeting between the two teams was in the UEFA Nations League last season, with Spain winning 2-1.

Italy will be without Domenico Berardi, Matteo Pessina, Alessandro Florenzi and Manuel Locatelli. However, these players are not irreplaceable pillars of the blue army. Against Spain, Italy will not be able to dominate the ball as usual. They will need sharper strikers on the counter-attack.