Spain will be bidding to return to winning ways on Sunday evening, with Luis de la Fuente's side continuing their 2024-25 UEFA Nations League campaign with a clash against Switzerland.
The reigning champions were held to a goalless draw by Serbia in their campaign opener on Thursday, while Switzerland suffered a 2-0 defeat to Denmark, who currently sit at the top of Group 4 of League A.
Match preview
© Imago
Switzerland's first match since their penalty-shootout loss to England in the quarter-finals of Euro 2024 took place on Thursday evening, with A-Team opening their Nations League campaign against Denmark.
The match was drifting towards a goalless draw, but Denmark scored twice in the final 10 minutes of the fixture to record a 2-0 victory, moving them to the top of the section and leaving Switzerland, who had both Nico Elvedi and Granit Xhaka sent off, at the bottom.
Murat Yakin's side finished fourth in the inaugural season of the Nations League back in 2018-19, but they have been third in their section in their last two campaigns, including in 2022-23, which also saw them take on Spain in the group stage of the competition.
Switzerland will aim to secure their first points in Group 4 of League A on Sunday night, and they will then be back in action in October away to Serbia and at home to Denmark.
A-Team actually beat Spain 2-1 when the two teams last locked horns in the Nations League back in September 2022, but they have only won two of their previous 25 fixtures against Spain dating back to June 1925.
© Imago
Spain boss De la Fuente insisted that he was "not worried" by his team's goalless draw against Serbia on Thursday evening, branding the fixture "almost a pre-season game".
La Roja had the better of the clash with Serbia but were unable to find the back of the net, with the result leaving them in third position in the section on one point.
Spain have not been past the last-16 stage of a World Cup since winning the competition in 2010, but they lifted the European Championship over the summer by beating England, before triumphing at the Olympics in Paris.
La Roja are also the reigning Nations League champions, beating Croatia in the final of the competition in June 2023, so it has been another golden period in their history.
Spain are unbeaten since a friendly loss to Colombia back in March, while the national side have not lost a competitive fixture since March 2023.
It is always difficult to read too much into international games at this stage of the season, especially shortly after a major tournament, but Spain will be determined to return to winning ways on Sunday ahead of their third match in the section at home to Denmark on October 12.
Team News
© Imago
Switzerland boss Yakin will be forced into at least two alterations for this contest, as Elvedi and Xhaka are suspended following their red cards against Denmark.
Gregory Wuthrich and Denis Zakaria are expected to be the two players to benefit from the bans, but it is otherwise likely to be the same side that took to the field for the first whistle against Denmark.
Breel Embolo has scored 15 times for his country and is set for another spot in the final third of the field, while Fabian Rieder and Ruben Vargas are also expected to operate in advanced areas for the home side.
As for Spain, De la Fuente's comments after the Serbia clash suggested that he will be making changes for this match, with Pedri and Alejandro Grimaldo likely to be introduced into the side.
Marc Cucurella and Ayoze Perez could be the two players to drop out, while Dani Olmo is unlikely to feature due to a knock, so Joselu could be in line for a spot through the middle.
Mikel Oyarzabal, who scored the winner in the Euro 2024 final against England, will also be in the thinking of De la Fuente when it comes to the attacking positions.
David Raya should continue between the sticks for the European champions, as Spain's number one goalkeeper Unai Simon is not in the squad due to injury.
Manchester City's Rodri is in the squad and could be involved, although the 28-year-old is unlikely to start, having not played a single minute of football this term.
Switzerland possible starting lineup:
Kobel; Wuthrich, Akanji, Rodriguez; Widmer, Freuler, Zakaria, Aebischer; Rieder, Embolo, Vargas
Spain possible starting lineup:
Raya; Carvajal, Le Normand, Laporte, Grimaldo; Pedri, Zubimendi, Ruiz; Yamal, Joselu, N Williams
We say: Switzerland 1-2 Spain
This has all of the makings of a very interesting match, and we are expecting Switzerland to cause Spain a lot of problems on Sunday. La Roja will be determined to return to winning ways, though, and we are backing De la Fuente's side to navigate their way to all three points.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Matt Law
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