Spain vs Macedonia Predictions & Betting Tips, Match Previews

It was the end of an era for Spain in the summer as they relinquished the European Championships after winning back to back titles, a disappointment which was swiftly followed by the expected departure of legendary manager Vicente del Bosque.

The new era, led by Julien Lopetegui, hasn’t started too badly at all though. It began with a 2-0 win over Belgium in a friendly as they prepared for the looming World Cup qualifiers, and that preparation paid off as they destroyed Liechtenstein 8-0 a few days later. Since then they have drawn 1-1 against fellow group favourites Italy and beaten Albania 2-0 to leave them top of the group.

As is typical with Spain, their goals have come from a variety of sources. Diego Costa has netted three so far but is reportedly suffering a slight hamstring problem, so the best value bet as far as anytime goalscorers go is probably David Silva. The Manchester City midfielder is lethal from dead ball situations and is the top scorer in the squad and already has two this campaign. Odds of 20/21 for him to find the net are very good value for money.

It’s not beyond the realms of possibility that he’ll bag a few either, considering the quality of the opposition. Macedonia’s 3-2 defeat to Italy last time out made it four losses on the trot and seven in their last eight games.

Away from home it’s even worse. Macedonia haven’t won an away game since 2011, with 17 of their 23 away days since then ending in defeat. One of these was when Spain beat them 5-1 as well, and they have also lost convincingly to the likes of Armenia, Poland, and Serbia during this winless run.

Macedonia have scored a decent amount so far this competition, and with Gerard Pique, Jordi Alba, and Sergio Ramos all out injured they could potentially find the net on Saturday. I wouldn’t put my money on it though, but it does increase the chances of this being a high scoring match.

Four of Spain’s last six home games have ended with at least four goals being scored as well, so we could be in for a goalfest here. I think odds of 4/5 for a Spain Win and Over 3.5 Goals offer a lot of value, and I’m backing that along with a high value 5-1 correct score prediction at 25/1.