Spain will be looking to pick up their first win of the 2020-21 UEFA Nations League when they continue their League A Group 4 campaign at home to Ukraine on Sunday night.
Luis Enrique's side drew 1-1 with Germany in their tournament opener on Thursday, while Ukraine beat Switzerland 2-1 to top the group heading into the second set of fixtures.
Match preview
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Spain looked to be heading for a defeat in their UEFA Nations League opener on Thursday night, with Timo Werner's strike early in the second half handing Germany a lead entering the final exchanges.
Jose Gaya came up with a 95th-minute equaliser for La Roja, though, and Enrique's side will now be looking to move onto four points in the section ahead of their next two games in the competition next month.
It would be fair to say that Spain have had their problems in recent years, but they breezed through their qualification section for next summer's European Championships, winning nine of their 10 matches.
The 2010 world champions are also now unbeaten since losing to Croatia in the 2018-19 edition of the UEFA Nations League, a run which stretches 12 matches.
Spain have won four of their previous five international games against Ukraine, meanwhile, including a 1-0 victory when they last locked horns during qualification for Euro 2016.
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Ukraine, as mentioned, are currently top of this particular section, having opened their 2020-21 campaign with a 2-1 home victory over Switzerland on Thursday night.
West Ham United's Andriy Yarmolenko and Manchester City's Oleksandr Zinchenko were on the scoresheet for the Yellow and Blues, who will now be looking for another positive result against Spain.
Andriy Shevchenko's side will also be present at next summer's European Championships, having topped their qualification group with 20 points, remaining unbeaten across eight matches.
Ukraine actually finished ahead of Portugal in their Euro 2020 qualifying section, while they will bring an 11-match unbeaten run into Sunday's affair in the Spanish capital.
Spain Nations League form: WWLLD
Spain form (all competitions): WDDWWD
Ukraine Nations League form: WWWDW
Ukraine form (all competitions): DWWWDW
Team News
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David de Gea was given the nod between the sticks against Germany on Thursday night and that is again expected to be the case for this game, with fellow Premier League goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga starting on the bench.
Enrique has no injury concerns from the Germany clash and could therefore select the same side, with Jesus Navas, Fabian Ruiz and Rodrigo Moreno likely to retain their positions.
New Manchester City attacker Ferran Torres also impressed for a new-look Spain, meaning that the likes of Ansu Fati and Dani Olmo might have to accept spots on the bench once again.
As for Ukraine, Shevchenko paid tribute to defenders Oleksandr Tymchyk and Bohdan Mykhaylichenko following the Switzerland clash, with both players making their debuts for the national side.
The pair are expected to retain their spots in the starting XI for this game, and it could ultimately be the same side that took to the field last time out, providing that there are no late fitness concerns.
Yarmolenko and Zinchenko will both keep their spots, while Yevhen Konoplyanka should again be joined by Shakhtar Donetsk teammate Junior Moraes in an attacking position.
Spain possible starting lineup:
De Gea; Carvajal, Ramos, Torres, Gaya; Ruiz, Busquets, Thiago; Navas, Rodrigo, Torres
Ukraine possible starting lineup:
Pyatov; Mykhaylichenko, Matvienko, Kryvstov, Tymshyk; Zinchenko, Stepanenko, Milinovskiy; Konoplyanka, Junior Moraes, Yarmolenko
We say: Spain 2-1 Ukraine
Ukraine beat Portugal during qualification for the European Championships and will bring an impressive run of form into this contest. It would certainly not be a surprise to see the two sides share the spoils, but we just have a feeling for Spain on home soil, ultimately backing them to record a narrow victory in Madrid.
Top betting tip
Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting a home win 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.Home Win:-
Matt Law
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Spain win with a probability of 70.14%. A draw had a probability of 17.6% and a win for Ukraine had a probability of 12.3%.
The most likely scoreline for a Spain win was 2-0 with a probability of 11.07%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (9.62%) and 1-0 (9.49%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (8.24%), while for a Ukraine win it was 1-2 (3.58%). The actual scoreline of 4-0 was predicted with a 5% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Spain would win this match.
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