SM
Sports Mole words bigger AMP 2
Leicester vs. Arsenal: 5 hrs 35 mins
Upcoming predictions and previews
Collect News Data
SN
Spain national football team
European Under-21s Championship | Group Stage
Jun 24, 2023 at 7.45pm UK
 
CN
Croatia national football team

Spain U21s
1 - 0
Croatia U21s

Ruiz (1')
FT(HT: 1-0)

Frigan (13'), Sego (34'), Stojkovic (60')

Preview: Spain Under-21s vs. Croatia Under-21s - prediction, team news, lineups

:Headline: Preview: Spain Under-21s vs. Croatia Under-21s - prediction, team news, lineups:
Sports Mole previews Saturday's European Under-21 Championship clash between Spain Under-21s and Croatia Under-21s, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Sports Mole

Spain Under-21s square off against Croatia Under-21s on Saturday with the opportunity to book their place in the Under-21 Euro 2023 knockout stages.

Earlier this week, Spain cruised past co-hosts Romania on the same day that Croatia succumbed to a potentially-decisive defeat in Group B at the hands of Ukraine.


Match preview

Preview: Spain U21s vs. Croatia U21s - prediction, team news, lineups

On a 14-match undefeated streak spanning over two years, Spain would not have minded who they faced in their first game in this tournament, yet a meeting with the co-hosts gave La Rojita the platform to make a statement.

Romania managed to withstand Spain's superior quality during the first half, but goals from Alex Baena, Juan Miranda and Sergio Gomez after the break secured all three points.

Having played in front of over 21,000 people on Wednesday, the atmosphere will change for this contest, but Santi Denia will expect his players to pull off a similar kind of result.

The only two occasions in 15 fixtures where Spain have failed to score more than two goals in a single game came in the recent friendly stalemates with France and Mexico.

With four clean sheets also coming from six matches, there appears to be no weaknesses in this team ahead of facing opponents now low on confidence.

Croatia had been on a high having defeated England by a 2-1 scoreline on away territory in March, yet that shows that results in friendlies should not always be taken too seriously.

Mladi Vatreni lost their seven-game undefeated streak at the hands of a Ukraine side that were able to leave star man Mykhaylo Mudryk as an unused substitute and still prevail by a 2-0 scoreline.

Furthermore, Dragan Skocic's side have now failed to score in two of their last four fixtures and scored just three goals during that period, the other coming at home to Austria.

Playing Romania, arguably the weakest team in the group, in their final fixture leaves Croatia with hope, but they can ill-afford to suffer defeat in Bucharest on Saturday.

Spain Under-21s European Under-21 Championship form:

Croatia Under-21s European Under-21 Championship form:


Team News

Given the rapid turnaround in games, it is plausible that Denia will feel comfortable with tinkering with his Spain XI during the group stages.

Victor Gomez, Gabri Veiga and Rodrigo Riquelme are all in contention to feature at right-back, in midfield and on the flank respectively.

With Jon Pacheco and Baena collecting yellow cards versus Romania, Denia may opt to protect against possible suspensions later in the tournament.

Skocic is expected to make alterations to his Croatia XI, particularly in the final third where Michele Sego and Gabriel Vidovic could take their spots on the flank.

Veldin Hodza and former Manchester City youngster Ante Palaversa are also options in central midfield.


Spain Under-21s possible starting lineup:
Tenas; Gomez, Paredes, Pacheco, Miranda; Blanco, Veiga; Riquelme, Sancet, Gomez; Ruiz

Croatia Under-21s possible starting lineup:
Kotarski; Sigur, Franjic, Perkovic, Colina; Bulat, Hodza; Sego, Baturina, Vidovic; Beljo


We say: Spain Under-21s 3-0 Croatia Under-21s

Regardless of whether Spain decide to rotate for this contest, this represents a stiff challenge for their opponents. Although Croatia may pose more of a challenge than Romania, we still expect Spain to storm to a dominant victory and book their spot in the last eight in the process.



For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.


Top tip

Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting over 2.5 goals in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.Over 2.5:data


body check tags ::

Previews by email

Click here to get Sports Mole's daily email of previews and predictions for every major game!


amp_article__516809 : Collect and Make Data not in DataBase  : 
last updated article - 2024-06-05 13:16:06:
html db last update - 2024-06-05 13:16:06 :

ex - 7200 : read : write cache and make html
Read more!
Share this article now:


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
AL
Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!
Recommended Next on SM
Manchester City: Transfer ins and outs - Summer 2022
Magic Minteh fires Brighton past haphazard Chelsea in Valentine's Day special
Premier League Table
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool24176158233557
2Arsenal24148249222750
3Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest24145540271347
4Chelsea25127647341343
5Manchester CityMan City24125748351341
6Newcastle UnitedNewcastle24125742291341
7Bournemouth24117641281340
8Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton2591063838037
9Aston Villa2410773437-337
10Fulham249963632436
11Brentford2494114242031
12Crystal Palace247982830-230
13Manchester UnitedMan Utd2485112834-629
14Tottenham HotspurSpurs24831348371127
15Everton246992530-527
16West Ham UnitedWest Ham2476112946-1727
17Wolverhampton WanderersWolves2454153452-1819
18Leicester CityLeicester2445152553-2817
19Ipswich TownIpswich2437142249-2716
20Southampton2423191854-369
Scroll for more - Tap for full version


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
AL
Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!

Loading ...

Failed to load data.

history www

Preview: PEC Zwolle vs. Heerenveen - prediction, team news, lineups

1

PP
Preview: PEC Zwolle vs. Heerenveen - prediction, team news, lineups

A Myles-stone: How could Arsenal teenager make history in Leicester clash?

2

AM
A Myles-stone: How could Arsenal teenager make history in Leicester clash?

Preview: Lens vs. Strasbourg - prediction, team news, lineups

3

PL
Preview: Lens vs. Strasbourg - prediction, team news, lineups

Preview: West Ham vs. Brighton - prediction, team news, lineups

4

PW
Preview: West Ham vs. Brighton - prediction, team news, lineups

Magic Minteh fires Brighton past haphazard Chelsea in Valentine's Day special

5

MM
Magic Minteh fires Brighton past haphazard Chelsea in Valentine's Day special

Four ruled out, two boosts: Howe issues Newcastle injury update before Man City clash

6

FR
Four ruled out, two boosts: Howe issues Newcastle injury update before Man City clash

Preview: Spurs vs. Man Utd - prediction, team news, lineups

7

PS
Preview: Spurs vs. Man Utd - prediction, team news, lineups

Preview: Juventus vs. Inter Milan - prediction, team news, lineups

8

PJ
Preview: Juventus vs. Inter Milan - prediction, team news, lineups

Team News: Osasuna vs. Real Madrid injury, suspension list, predicted XIs

9

TN

Preview: Monza vs. Lecce - prediction, team news, lineups

10

PM
1x1


. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .