Spain vs Colombia Prediction: Spain looking for strong performance

West Ham’s London Stadium is the setting for an international friendly between Spain and Colombia on Friday night, with Luis de la Fuente’s side continuing their preparations for Euro 2024. The game is live on Viaplay Sports Online with kick-off at 20:30.

Spain are the current UEFA Nations League holders having beaten Italy and Croatia in the final stage of that competition last June. They’ll face both of those sides again in their opening two matches at Euro 2024 in Germany in a few months time, and the Spain boss will want to see a strong display from his team here with those two tough tests on the horizon.

While the 2022/23 season delivered the lows of a tame World Cup Last 16 exit against Morocco and a Euro 2024 qualifying defeat in Glasgow, the current campaign has served as a reminder of the quality that does exist in this Spanish squad.

La Roja have won all six matches, scoring 22 goals in the process and conceding just three to ultimately secure a smooth passage to the Euros as Group A winners ahead of Scotland. However it is more than four months since they beat Georgia 3-1 in Valladolid in their last match.

The big talking point from the autumn internationals from a Spain perspective was the emergence of Lamine Yamal who became the country’s youngest player and scorer at the age of just 16 years and 57 days. He won’t turn 17 until the day before the Euro 2024 Final but the talented winger has already cemented himself as something of a regular in the Barcelona team.

Luis de la Fuente, who was previously Spain U21 boss, has again shown himself to be a believer in young talent by picking another Barca teenager with 17 year old centre back Pau Cubarsi one of three uncapped players in this squad.

Colombia are certainly capable of providing a sterner test than most of Spain’s recent opponents. The South Americans are themselves gearing up for a big tournament in a few months time with Brazil among their group stage opponents at Copa America.

They are also six games into their 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign and it has been a solid start with three wins and three draws leaving Nestor Lorenzo’s side currently in third place and on track to make up for the disappointment of their failure to reach the 2022 World Cup.

Confidence shouldn’t be lacking in the Colombian camp after Liverpool’s Luis Diaz fired in two goals in four minutes to dramatically see off Brazil 2-1 in the most recent international break, a result that was backed up by a 1-0 victory in Paraguay days later.

Diaz is one of the big stars of Colombian football right now while captain James Rodriguez, now of Brazilian club São Paulo, remains a key figure. Watford’s Yaser Asprilla and Crystal Palace duo Jefferson Lerma and Daniel Muñoz are the other players based in England that are in the squad for this game.

Team News:

 There are a number of injury absentees from this Spain squad with Barcelona duo Pedri and Gavi both currently sidelined meaning PSG’s Fabian Ruiz should start in midfield. Valencia’s Jose Luis Gaya was in the initial squad but has withdrawn due to injury which serves up a real opportunity for Bayer Leverkusen’s impressive left back Alex Grimaldo to stake his claim in what will be just his second cap.

Ferran Torres and Marco Asensio are other notable absentees for Spain with Luis de la Fuente expected to name a mixture of regular starters and fringe players in the eleven here with Brazil visiting Madrid in another friendly next week.

Colombia are also heading to the Spanish capital for a friendly against Romania next Tuesday, but are likely to go pretty strong where possible with their starting eleven in London. They have been hit by a number of injury withdrawals from their initial squad though with Luis Sinisterra, Ian Poveda, Yerry Mina and Cristian Borja all pulling out.

Luis Diaz has trained this week despite hobbling off in Liverpool’s FA Cup defeat at Manchester United last weekend with a groin problem. It’s unclear whether he’ll be ready to start this game though while James Rodriguez is also only just returning from a period on the sidelines and is unlikely to play the full 90 minutes.

Match Odds:

 Spain are the 8/11 favourites to win this game while you can back the Draw at 13/5 and Colombia at 4/1.

This is a Colombian side that doesn’t lose many matches and one that went unbeaten in 2023 which included an away friendly win in Germany. If you fancy La Tricolor to get a result again here, you can back Draw or Colombia Double Chance at 11/10.

Both Teams to Score is priced at 5/6 while you can back Spain to keep a Clean Sheet at 5/4. Over 2.5 Goals is on offer at 10/11 while you can back Over 3.5 Goals at 5/2 if you see this following the pattern of many recent Spain matches which have produced plenty of goals.

Alvaro Morata is the 13/10 favourite to score anytime while you can back the Atletico Madrid man to score first at 7/2. Rafael Santos Borre should lead the line for Colombia and he’s priced at 3/1 to score anytime.

Colombia’s recent record is a strong one and with just three goals conceded in six World Cup qualifiers in 2023, it’s clear that they have a solid defensive base which will make this a tricky game for Spain.

It’ll be a good test for a Spanish side that has dominated possession but struggled to break down defensive opponents in recent years and it’s hard to see this match producing a huge amount of goalmouth drama.

Spain & Under 3.5 Goals @ 7/5

There is more quality in the Spain squad though while there’s a bit more variety to their game now than had previously been the case with the emergence of wingers Nico Williams and Lamine Yamal improving matters. They ought to find a breakthrough at some point in this game and I’m backing Spain and Under 3.5 Goals at 7/5.

With doubts over whether Luis Diaz and James Rodriguez will be fit enough to start for Colombia and Spain blessed with considerable depth in attacking areas, this may be a friendly match that livens up after the break.

Highest Scoring Half - 2nd Half @ 21/20

As with many international friendlies, it’s unlikely to be played at any great pace, but the Second Half should see both coaches introduce attacking players and there ought to be enough quality on the pitch to ensure we do get at least a goal and I’m going with Highest Scoring Half - 2nd Half at 21/20.

Football betting tips from Betfred Insights.