Spain vs Denmark Prediction: Back Lamine Yamal to grab an assist

Spain reminded everyone why they won Euro 2024 last time out with a 1-4 hammering of Switzerland at the Stade de Geneve, despite going down to 10 men in the 20th minute. They face Denmark on Saturday (19:45) in a game streaming live on YouTube.

Our La Liga betting expert caught the assignment for this one, so check out his match preview along with his Spain vs Denmark Predictions at Betfred Insights...

*You can check out all of the Football Odds we offer over at betfred.com

The top two in Group A4 of the UEFA Nations League meet on Saturday night with Spain hosting Denmark. Both sides already look well-placed to go on and secure a quarter-final slot after making strong starts to the competition last month.  

The Estadio Enrique Roca, home of third tier club Real Murcia, is the somewhat unlikely setting for Spain's first home match since their Euro 2024 success in the summer.  

That should give the occasion a bit of a celebratory feel as far as the home fans are concerned. However, Spain will be expecting a real test from a Denmark side that currently holds a two point advantage at the top of this group.  

Since beating England to win Euro 2024, La Roja have played two matches, both away from home in this competition. They were frustrated by a stubborn Serbia side in their opening group game which ended goalless in Belgrade. It was a much more eventful affair on matchday two though, as Spain ran out 4-1 winners in Switzerland, despite being reduced to 10 men in just the 20th minute following Robin Le Normand's red card. 

Fabián Ruiz, one of a number of Spain players who excelled in Germany in the summer, was the star that night with two goals. Largely as a consequence of the early red card, it was a very different kind of Spain performance to what we saw at the Euros though. Luis de la Fuente's side had to defend deep and largely played on the counter-attack with Ferran Torres rounding off the scoring with a breakaway goal late on. 

The Spain boss would have been pleased to see his team capable of winning a different kind of match in testing circumstances, but he'll be expecting his team to see a lot more of the ball and play mostly on the front foot in this game. 

As they've shown on numerous occasions in recent years, Denmark are a very capable side. They've only lost once in 2024, with that solitary defeat coming against Germany in the round-of-16 at the Euros. 

While they impressed against England, the Danes did somewhat limp through to that stage though, drawing all of their group games, so it was a slightly disappointing conclusion to the largely successful reign of manager Kasper Hjulmand who stepped down in July. 

A permanent successor to Hjulmand is yet to be named, so they'll again be under caretaker management here with Lars Knudsen, the assistant coach at Bundesliga club Augsburg, set to again oversee this international break. 

His lack of managerial experience suggests he won't be in the frame for the job on a full-time basis, but it was a pretty strong audition from the 47-year-old last month as Denmark won their opening two Nations League fixtures. 

Late goals from Patrick Dorgu and Pierre-Emile Højbjerg sealed a 2-0 win over Switzerland in their opening game and there was a repeat scoreline three days later as Albert Grønbæk and Yussuf Poulsen struck against Serbia. 

Both of those games were in Copenhagen though and this will be a much tougher test of Knudsen's capabilities away against the reigning European champions. 

Team News: 

Neither of these sides will be at anything like full strength on Saturday evening, with a number of injury problems and late withdrawals leaving both managers missing some key players. 

Spain are missing six of the eleven that started the Euro 2024 final with Unai Simón, Dani Carvajal, Robin Le Normand, Rodri, Dani Olmo and Nico Williams all currently sidelined due to injuries. Ferran Torres and Bryan Gil were also initially named in the squad but have been forced to pull out. 

A number of less experienced players should feature as a result, with Tottenham's Pedro Porro likely to win just his fourth cap at right-back as a result of Carvajal's ACL injury. 

As for Denmark, they're missing defensive regulars Joachim Andersen and Andreas Christensen to injuries. Brentford duo Mikkel Damsgaard and Christian Nørgaard have also pulled out of this squad, as have Morten Frendrup and Rasmus Nicolaisen. 

They still take plenty of experience to Murcia, with the likes of Kasper Schmeichel, Christian Eriksen and Pierre-Emile Højbjerg all expected to be involved. 

Spain vs Denmark Odds

Spain head into this game as the 2/5 favourites, with the Draw priced at 18/5, while you can back Denmark to win at 7/1. 

Using these prices and flipping them into implied odds, it comes out that the traders think Spain have a 71% chance of winning, with Denmark emerging victorious rated as a 13% shot. The draw sits at 22%.

It has been a fixture that the Iberians have tended to enjoy, with La Roja winning all four meetings this century, scoring 10 goals in the process. They are priced at 23/20 to score in both halves here and 11/5 to win both halves. 

You can also back Spain and Over 2.5 goals at 11/10, while Spain and Both teams to score is on offer 11/5. 

The visitors have only lost two of their last 18 internationals though and if you see them competing well here, Double chance - Denmark or Draw is priced at 9/5. You can also back Denmark at 8/13 with a +2 Handicap. 

Álvaro Morata leads the way as the 6/5 favourite to score anytime. Euro 2024 final match winner Mikel Oyarzabal is priced at 13/10 to do likewise, while Manchester United striker Rasmus Höjlund is the shortest priced Dane in that market at 18/5. 

Bet 1 - Lamine Yamal 1+ assists @ 15/8 

With Nico Williams not available for this game, Spain are likely to look to attack down their right flank as much as possible with Lamine Yamal.  

There were already signs of the teenager's ever-growing importance to this side during the last international break. He had four shots in the draw against Serbia, the joint most of any player in that game, but it's his creative qualities that have tended to do the damage in international football. 

Having assisted four times in seven appearances at Euro 2024, the winger has also assisted five times in nine La Liga appearances this term. I'm backing him to continue that impressive form with Lamine Yamal 1+ assists available at 15/8 here. 

Bet 2 - Over 2.5 goals @ 8/11 

Both sides have some significant defensive absentees, which suggests there could be one or two extra gaps at the back for the attacking players in this game to exploit. 

Without Le Normand or Carvajal, Spain are missing perhaps their two most consistent defenders, while the absence of Rodri will also offer encouragement to the visitors.  

If anything, Denmark have even bigger issues in that department though and less depth, so the likes of Yamal, Pedri and Fabián will fancy they can create plenty of opportunities for the hosts. Given that, I can see this being a good watch and I'm backing Over 2.5 goals at 8/11. 

Mark Sochon primarily covers Spanish Football for us at Betfred Insights. You can check out Mark's Football Betting Tips along with those from the rest of the Betfred Insights Football writers on our Football home page...