The third round of the UEFA Nations League will see Switzerland take on Spain at St. Jakob-Park on Wednesday evening. Kickoffs at 21:45 EAT.
Early fears of a first-ever relegation to League B are just starting to creep in for Switzerland following their dismal start to the Nations League campaign, as Murat Yakin’s side could not respond to their opening-day loss to the Czechs in Lisbon. The hosts in this game have had two straight away defeats in their opening matches. Their latest loss leaves them winless in four matches, and it will not get easier, with Spain also seeking their first win in this group.
The Swiss suffered 4-0 Nations League trashing at the hands of Portugal in their last match. In that game, Switzerland managed 45% possession and five shots with one of them on target. Portugal got 18 shots with 10 of them on target and goals by William Carvalho (15′), Cristiano Ronaldo (35′, 39′) and João Cancelo (68′).
It was a reversal of fortunes for the 2010 world champions on Sunday, and that result leaves the winless visitors third in the embryonic rankings with the Czech Republic still due to visit the Iberian nation in a few days. Spain is unbeaten in their last six matches, and in the last 10, they’ve suffered one loss, and won seven. They were finalists in last season’s competition and will be eyeing another appearance in the finals. That will mean they go for a win in this game.
Spain shared spoils 2-2 Nations League with Czech Republic in their last encounter. In that game, Spain had 79% possession, 13 shots with five of them on target and goals scored by Gavi (45′) and Iñigo Martínez (90′). Czech Rep. got three shots with two of them on target and goals by Jakub Pešek (4′) and Jan Kuchta (66′).
Switzerland vs. Spain head to head
Spain boasts a slight upper hand in the history of this fixture having won four times in the seven head to head encounters since 1996. Draws have been recorded two times and Switzerland has a solitary win.
- Switzerland 1-3 Spain 02/07/21
- Switzerland 1-1 Spain14/11/20
- Spain 1-0 Switzerland 10/10/20
- Spain 1-1 Switzerland 03/06/18
- Spain 0-1 Switzerland 16/06/10
Home
- Portugal 4-0 Switzerland
- Czech Republic 2-1 Switzerland
- Switzerland 1-1 Kosovo
- England 2-1 Switzerland
- Switzerland 4-0 Bulgaria
Away
- Czech Republic 2-2 Spain
- Spain 1-1 Portugal
- Spain 5-0 Iceland
- Spain 2-1 Albania
- Spain 1-0 Sweden
Switzerland team news
Murat Yakin will be grateful not to have any fitness or suspension concerns ahead of this fixture.
Spain team news
Aymeric Laporte is recovering from an injury at the moment and has been ruled out of Wednesday’s fixture.
Prediction and odds
With a four-game unbeaten away run, they are favorites for a win here, and especially having won three of the four while Switzerland is on a poor run, winless in the last four matches, but are a different side when at home.
- Spain win
- Draw
- Both teams to score
