It’s now or never for the Albanians, who kept themselves alive with an injury-time equaliser against the Croats. Can they get a result against an already-qualified Spanish team to make a surprise appearance in the knockouts? Read on for our Albania vs Spain predictions.
Albania vs Spain prediction
For the Albania vs Spain match prediction, we believe the final score will be 2-0 in favour of Spain based on our analysis.
The Albanians need a result here, but even if the Spanish make a few changes, which they likely will, it’s easy to see the tournament novices being picked off by vastly superior opposition.
Our Albania vs Spain predictions are as follows:
Dani Olmo to Score @ 9/4 with bet365
Ylber Ramadani to be Booked @ 11/4 with bet365
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Albania vs Spain betting odds
Bet | Odds |
|---|---|
Albania to win | 13/2 |
Spain to win | 21/50 |
Draw | 15/4 |
Albania vs Spain head-to-head statistics
Spain and Albania have previously faced each other eight times on a football pitch. Each of those eight previous games has gone the way of the Spanish, including the most recent renewals, which saw Spain record a 2-1 win back in 2022.
Albania vs Spain preview
This match will be played on 24/06/2024 at Merkur Spiel-Arena (Dusseldorf). Kick off will be at 20:00 GMT.
The Spanish hit the ground running in Germany with some decisive offensive play against a sloppy and disorganised Croatian team first time out, while they continued on the up against the Italians on match-day two.
I must admit, I thought the Italians could stand firm and cause Spain a few problems, but that wasn’t the case, far from it.
Despite winning by just a single goal, La Roja played Gli Azzurri off the park from start to finish, forcing them back for much of the contest and dazzling both their opponents and the crowd with some fine attacking play.
We may only be two games in but this Spanish team looks like serious contenders. Will anyone want to face them off the back of what we’ve seen so far? Absolutely not.
As for Albania, well, they weren’t quite up to speed on match-day one, despite scoring the fastest ever European Championships goal.
They were in front early again on match-day two, taking the lead against Croatia in the 11th minute through Sparta Prague’s Qazim Laci, who neatly headed home from close range.
They fought hard to preserve their lead and lasted much longer than they did against Italy, but Croatian pressure eventually told, as the Albanians leaked not one, but two goals in two second-half minutes.
When the second went in, an own goal from midfielder Klaus Gjasula, they looked down and out, and it’s probably fair to say that at that point, most people expected them to head into this fixture with zero points. I certainly did.
However, the men wearing all black had other ideas, as they pushed for an equaliser, which eventually came from Gjasula, who made amends for his own goal in the best way possible when finishing from inside the box deep into stoppage time.
Thanks to that late goal, Albanian qualification is far from out of the question, but can they really beat a Spanish side that has looked about the strongest of the lot so far? You never know.
Albania vs Spain Betting tips
Two betting angles appeal ahead of this fixture, both of which are player-focused.
Dani Olmo to Score
The Spaniards are through, and with this not exactly the hardest fixture, boss Luis de la Fuente Castillo may make some changes here.
One player likely to come in is Dani Olmo, who is yet to start at Euro 2024, but who has been heavily involved for Spain in the last few years.
The RB Leipzig man had a season interrupted by injury, but he still averaged a goal every four games, while he has three goals in his last four appearances for Spain, not to mention an average of 0.35 per national team game since 2022.
With the Albanians likely to sit deep, this is also the sort of game where a player like Olmo, who does look to get on the ball and shoot from range and around the edge of the box, can thrive.
Ultimately, this looks like a nice opportunity for the man wearing the number 10 shirt for La Roja to do some damage and show his manager that he remains a player worth calling on as the Spanish head into the knockout rounds.
Ylber Ramadani to be Booked
For the Albanians, I very much like the look of Ylber Ramadani to get booked. The central midfielder is a key part of Sylvinho’s team, while he’s also no stranger to picking up a card.
The tenacious and often overzealous player escaped a caution against Croatia, but he went into the book against Italy, so don’t be surprised to see him attract plenty of attention from the referee in a game of this nature.
After all, this is a player who picked up 13 yellow cards for Leccie in Serie A last season, collecting a booking every 2.38 games. Such a stat makes odds of 11/4 look on the large side if you ask me.
Recap - Albania vs Spain betting tips
In summary, here are two recommended bets ahead of Albania vs Spain:
Dani Olmo to Score @ 9/4 with bet365
Ylber Ramadani to be Booked @ 11/4 with bet365
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