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Spain vs France prediction: La Roja to advance to Nations League final with narrow win?
Follow our football betting tips as Spain and France meet in the Nations League semi-final
Spain vs France tips:
- Spain to win by one goal - 3/1 Bet365
- Lamine Yamal to score or assist - 8/5 William Hill
The second of the Nations League semi-finals takes place on Thursday when Spain and France go head-to-head in Stuttgart for a place in Sunday’s final.
Spain are the current holders of the competition, beating Croatia in the 2023 final, and they were the beaten finalists two years before when these two sides met in Italy.
After a goalless first half, Mikel Oyarzabal gave Spain the lead on 64 minutes before Karim Benzema equalised two minutes later. Kylian Mbappe scored the winner with 10 minutes to go to win the title for France.
The two sides also met in the semi-finals of Euro 2024, and Spain got the ultimate revenge, securing a 2-1 win, with all three goals coming in the opening 30 minutes.
Randall Kolo Muani gave France the lead with just nine minutes on the clock, but two goals in four minutes from player of the match Lamine Yamal and Dani Olmo secured the Spaniards' place in the final - and we all know what happened in that one.
Football betting sites are all backing Spain to come out on top again at odds of 6/4, while you can get 11/5 on a France win and 43/19 on the game to finish all square after 90 minutes.
Spain vs France prediction: La Roja to reach the final again
Didier Deschamps’ side qualified for the semi-final by winning group A2 on goal difference after finishing level on points with Italy after both sides won four, drew one and lost one.
But they needed penalties to get through the quarter-final stage when they bounced back from losing the first leg against Croatia 2-0 to win their home leg by the same scoreline, thanks to goals from Michael Olise and Ousmane Dembele.
Mike Maignan saved a decisive penalty before Dayot Upamecano scored his to secure a 5-4 shootout win.
Spain were the clear winners of A4, winning five and drawing the other one of their six matches and conceding just four goals.
They also needed a penalty shootout to reach the last four after a 2-2 draw against the Netherlands in Rotterdam was followed by a 3-3 draw in Valencia. Pedri converted the winning penalty after Unai Simon saved from Donyell Malen.
The success of Paris Saint-Germain and Inter Milan in the Champions League could prove France’s downfall with seven players involved in Saturday’s final, and some of them could well be still celebrating.
Lucas Hernandez, Desire Doue, Bradley Barcola, Warren Zaire-Emery, Dembele, Marcus Thuram and Benjamin Pavard all featured on Saturday, so we’ll have to wait and see how Deschamps uses them on Thursday.
Those PSG players will be busy in the coming weeks as they head off to the Club World Cup, where the Parisians are among the favourites in the Club World Cup odds to go all the way.
But first up is Spain, a game where Les Bleus will have to be on their mettle, or risk another semi-final defeat.
Spain vs France prediction 1: Spain to win by one goal - 3/1 Bet365
Spain vs France betting tips: Yamal to star again
It’s been quite a season for Lamine Yamal, who at just 17 years old has scored 19 goals for club and country in 60 games.
He has also assisted with 20 more goals to help Spain to this semi-final and Barcelona to their 28th La Liga title.
Betting sites are offering 12/1 on him scoring first or 11/2 at any time, but if you want to hedge your bets, you can get 8/5 on him scoring or assisting.
Spain vs France prediction 2: Lamine Yamal to score or assist - 8/5 William Hill
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