Croatia vs Spain Bet Builder tips: Vatreni can taste Nations League joy
- Croatia have lost just one of their last 16 matches
- There were a total of 12 cards shown in the two Nations League semi-finals
- Both teams have scored in seven of Croatia’s last 12 competitive matches
The Nations League is not the most celebrated of international trophies but there will be delight in Croatia or Spain if their national teams manage to get their hands on the trophy in Rotterdam on Sunday.
Croatia have reached at least the last four in the last two World Cups and will be desperate to claim their first crown.
Confidence should also be high after they knocked out their Dutch hosts 4-2 in the semi-finals.
Spain are adjusting to life under new manager Luis de la Fuente, but they dominated European champions Italy in their semi-final and will have their eyes on the prize.
Bet 1: Croatia to win
Spain are highly fancied to claim the Nations League, but the Croatians should not be ruled out and they look a good price to get the job done in 90 minutes.
It is six months since they were beaten 3-0 by Argentina in the World Cup semi-finals in Qatar, but that is the only defeat they have suffered in their last 16 matches.
All footballers have national pride but the Croatian players tend to take that to another level and that should also be an advantage.
Spain, meanwhile, have been running hot and cold over the last year.
They thrashed Costa Rica 7-0 at the World Cup but were beaten by Japan and then suffered a penalty exit to Morocco.
Life did not get much better when they lost a Euro 2024 qualifier 2-0 in Scotland, so they could be vulnerable.
Bet 2: Over 4.5 cards
Many football fans may be ambivalent towards the Nations League, but this match looks sure to be competitive, so German referee Felix Zwayer could be a busy man.
No quarter looks set to be given and the Croatians picked up four bookings in their 4-2 win over the Netherlands as six names in all went into the book in 90 minutes, while another followed in extra time.
There were also five bookings in the Spain vs Italy semi-final and we could see something similar in the Rotterdam showdown.
Bet 3: Both teams to score
It looks as if there could be a few goals in this game and it would not be a surprise if both teams found the net.
That has happened in four of the last six meetings between the two teams and there have been 17 goals in total from the last three times these two have locked horns.
They played out arguably the best game of the Euro 2020 finals when Spain came out with a 5-3 extra-time victory in Copenhagen and both teams can again contribute to an entertaining game.
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