Soccer

    Group E: Winless Spain in danger of crashing out at group stage

    Lee BassinLee Bassin23 June 2021
    Aymeric Laporte Spain vs Poland Jun21

    Aymeric Laporte Spain vs Poland Jun21

    Spain could be the highest profile casualty of the Euro 2020 group stage if they fail to beat Slovakia.

    Slovakia vs Spain

    When: Wednesday June 23, 17:00 BST

    Where: Seville

    How to watch: ITV

    Group E qualification scenarios

    Current leaders Sweden will qualify as group winners with victory over Poland. If the Swedes fail to win, Slovakia can overhaul them if they can defeat Spain.

    However, despite drawing their opening two matches, Luis Enrique's men can still top the group if they beat Slovakia and Sweden lose to Poland.

    Best bets

    Spain to win 2-0

    Ferran Torres to score at any time

    International head-to-head

    Slovakia wins: 1

    Draws: 1

    Spain wins: 4

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    Slovakia goals: 5

    Spain goals: 11

    It's now or never for under-performing Spain

    Gerard Moreno fails from the spot for Spain against Poland

    The tiki-taka brilliance of their predecessors is a distant memory, as Spain have laboured to two consecutive draws in their opening Group E games.
    On the plus side, their performance last time out against Poland was a marked improvement from the Sweden stalemate. And, were it not for a missed penalty, Spain could well have taken all three points against the Poles.

    With qualification for the last 16 still in their own hands, we're expecting that upward trajectory to continue against an equally inconsistent Slovakia, with a 2-0 Spain victory priced around 9/2.

    Goalscorer bets

    With just one goal in their first two games, Luis Enrique looks set to shuffle his pack in an attempt to save Spain's tournament, and perhaps his job!

    The major beneficiary could be Manchester City's Ferran Torres, who has had to make do with a pair of substitute appearances thus far but should see an increased workload this time around.

    Torres has two goals from his last three starts in a Spain shirt, and is around 11/10 to find the net in Seville.

    Sweden vs Poland

    When: Wednesday June 23, 17:00 BST

    Where: Saint Petersburg

    How to watch: ITV4

    Best bets

    Poland to win

    Robert Lewandowski to score first

    International head-to-head

    Sweden wins: 14

    Draws: 4

    Poland wins: 8

    Sweden goals: 57

    Poland goals: 38

    Pole position for Lewandowski

    It's win or bust for Poland, but Sweden are unbeaten in their last seven games and have yet to concede a goal in this tournament, so they will be a tough nut to crack despite having already qualified for the last 16.

    However, the Poles were much better against Spain than in their opening clash with Slovakia, and the sight of Robert Lewandowski opening his Euro 2020 account will have sent shivers down the spines of Swedish fans.

    Poland are around 6/4 to put one over the Swedes, and with the extra motivation of their tournament life being on the line we're happy to roll with the Poles in Saint Petersburg.

    Goalscorer bet

    Robert Lewandowski's goal against Spain was his 54th of another record-breaking season, and he will feel a whole lot better going into this crunch clash.

    Lewandowski has failed to score in just six of his previous 33 games, so when it comes to the Bayern Munich ace, one goal is usually followed very quickly by another.

    And the sight of a fired-up Lewandowksi will be about as welcome to the Swedish defenders as taking a COVID test, with Poland's talisman a tempting price to open the scoring in Saint Petersburg.