Spain vs Tunisia Predictions, Betting Tips and Match Previews

The World Cup is very much on the horizon now and this will be the final time we see Tunisia and Spain before the tournament kicks off in Russia next week. Both have huge opening games with Spain taking on Iberian neighbours Portugal while Tunisia will feel they need a result from their opening match against England if they are going to stand any chance of progress.

This will certainly be an interesting one to watch from an English perspective. It seems inevitable Tunisia will play on the back-foot here and defend pretty deep. If they can frustrate this Spanish side and limit them to just a few chances, then the North Africans will fancy they stand a good chance of doing likewise in Volgograd a week on Monday when they lock horns with Gareth Southgate’s side.

Spain meanwhile will view this as a good warm-up for the challenge that is likely to be presented by Morocco and Iran in their group. However in truth those sides are better defensively than Tunisia and the Spanish really ought to have too much quality in the final third for their opponents here.

Their friendly last week against Switzerland saw them play some nice football but lack cutting edge, with neither Diego Costa nor Iago Aspas putting in a particularly compelling case for inclusion when the World Cup kicks off. The likes of Sergio Ramos and Isco were rested in that game though following Champions League Final duty and we should see a much stronger Spanish eleven here.

It may closely resemble the side that will start against Portugal next weekend and Spain will be keen to lay down more of a marker here than they managed against the Swiss. The return of their skipper Isco, who has been their key man over the past twelve months is certainly of significance and we should see a return to more of the tried and trusted approach that succeeded in qualifying.

Spain are yet to lose under Julen Lopetegui, with their last defeat coming two years ago against Italy at Euro 2016. That’s a really impressive record when you consider they’ve played the Italians twice since, as well as friendlies against the likes of Belgium, England, France and Argentina.

Tunisia probably surprised a few people with their friendly draw against Portugal last week but that was by no means the strongest Portuguese side they could have faced. They drew 2-2 again last time out against Turkey and have since drawn plenty of media attention with goalkeeper Mouez Hassan admitting he feigned injury to allow his team to break their Ramadan fast. With some significant injury absentees though, you have to wonder whether they’ve another gear to go to, whereas you sense Spain certainly do.

With this match taking place in Russia, there will be an appreciation in both camps that the serious business is now very near and you have to fancy a Spanish side that put 6 goals past Argentina as recently as March to have too much class. Backing Spain -1 Handicap could be the way to go.