Spain vs Costa Rica
International Friendlies
Date: 11th November 2017
Kick off at 20:30 UK/ 21:30 CET
Venue: Estadio La Rosaleda (Malaga).
Match Preview & Team NewsInternational Friendlies
Date: 11th November 2017
Kick off at 20:30 UK/ 21:30 CET
Venue: Estadio La Rosaleda (Malaga).
Spain host Costa Rica for their Friendly clash in Malaga on Saturday evening after ending their World Cup campaign in a furious manner and topping the European Group G with 28 points earned in ten games, hoping to build on their consistency and outclass the CONCACAF rivals, who also secured their spot in the World Cup 2018 in more of a thriller finish of their campaign.
La Furia Roja have been in fine form and connected a five-match winning streak since June, outclassing FYR Macedonia, Italy, Liechtenstein, Albania, and most recently Israel with direct World Cup qualification already secured. Lopetegui will be well-aware how important it is to retain such a form as bagging a convincing home win comes as an absolute must.
Costa Rica will come with high hopes of their own but haven’t been nearly as convincing recently, as we’ve seen them hold Mexico and Honduras to draws in front of the home fans and go on to suffer a 2-1 loss at Panama in their last outing. Holding off Spain, even with a rotated line-up, will be an even tougher task and assuming they can cause an upset is really a longshot.
The side have met twice beforehand and we’ve seen two narrow clashes, as Costa Rica held their rivals to a thriller 2-2 draw at home in 2011 but suffered a 2-1 loss in 2015. We don’t see them building on the tally here either, we’ll surely be in for another quality challenge on the day!
Spain
Sergio Ramos and Gerard Pique might not like each other but they can indeed function well as the center-back pair.
La Furia Roja will come into this on the back of four straight clean sheets in the last couple of months.
The man to look after at the other side of the pitch will certainly be Alvaro Morata who made the difference for Chelsea in the weekend’s 1-0 win over Manchester United at Stamford Bridge.
Costa Rica
The visitors have also cruised their way towards booking the World Cup spot from the CONCACAF zone where they came second in the final round.
La Sele did, however, end the campaign with a run of two draws and a defeat, but it did not affect the final standings as they have already secured the top three finish earlier on.
Spain vs Costa Rica: Head to head
Interestingly, Costa Rica proved out to be a tricky opposition for the Spaniards against whom they’ve found the net in both of the previous two H2H ties.
The first one saw a 2-2 draw on Costa Rica’s soil, while Spain took a narrow 2-1 2in at home two years ago.
Spain vs Costa Rica: Prediction
La Furia Roja kept their net untouched in last four outings and we expect them to continue the fine defensive form here as well.
Spain to win to nil is thus a stand-out bet, while Morata is the top option for the anytime goalscorer pick at 1.72.
Spain vs Costa Rica: Bet Tips
The main pick is Spain to win to nil at the odds of 1.61.
The alternative option is Alvaro Morata to score anytime at 1.72.