Spain vs Serbia Prediction: La Roja to have an enjoyable workout

European champions Spain continue their preparations for the Fifa World Cup finals in the summer with a friendly against Serbia at Estadio La Ceramica on Friday (20:00 GMT). La Roja are the tournament favourites so there will be plenty of eyes fixed on their warm-up games.

Serbia don't have a trip across the Atlantic to look forward to, so this is nothing but a routine exercise for them. Below you will find my Spain vs Serbia predictions, accompanied by the latest team news and match odds.

Team News

Spain boss Luis de la Fuente can afford to use the March international break to take a look at some of the new faces in his squad, as well as the fringe players who have been called up previously.

This includes attackers Ander Barrenetxea and Victor Munoz, who have been selected for the first time.

A strong XI is expected, though, so we may see Rodri and Pedri line up in the middle of the park. Injuries to Fabian Ruiz and Mikel Merino have kept them out of this camp.

The latter has proven to be an effective force in front of goal for club (Arsenal) and country over the past year, so La Roja will hope his foot issue won't rule him out of the World Cup.

Football Odds

Aleksandar Mitrovic will look to unsettle Spain's defence as he looks to add to his 63 international goals - the most of any Serbia player in history. Fellow striker Luka Jovic is the second-highest scorer in this month's squad with 11.

Defender Nikola Milenkovic has been praised for his Nottingham Forest performances over the past two seasons, so he will look to channel his club form against the best international side in Europe.

Spain vs Serbia Odds

Spain are big favourites to win this game at 2/9 with Betfred. Their most recent outing was a draw against Turkey and the stalemate on Friday is priced at 9/2.

It's a 9/1 bet for Serbia to pull off a shock in Villarreal.

At least one team has failed to score in the three previous head-to-heads, and BTTS - No is 8/11 to strike on Friday.

Today's Football Fixtures

Which Team To Score - Only Spain @ 1/1

Spain will welcome this test as they bid to win the World Cup for the first time since their 2010 triumph in South Africa. They are the current European champions, which is exactly what they were heading into the big dance 16 years ago - is it a sign?

Serbia is a team filled with physical players who will look to stop La Roja from executing their possession-based football. De la Fuente will want to see his players show their creativity against a side expected to be focused on shutting Spain out. This is seen a lot in knockout football and Spain are in a group with debutants Cape Verde at the World Cup.

Given the quality of resources that the hosts have, they should have no trouble in breaking down Serbia's defence. There is a lot of firepower in Spain's ranks, notably Mikel Oyarzabal, Ferran Torres and Dani Olmo, and they can showcase this on Friday.

I think they are a good price at 1/1 (implied probability of 50%) to be the only team to score on Friday. This has been a successful bet in five of their past six fixtures, as well as two of their three meetings with Serbia to date.

Additionally, the visitors have blanked in three of their last five games.

Anytime Goalscorer - Mikel Oyarzabal @ 8/13

Oyarzabal scored the winning goal for Spain against England in the Euro 2024 final in Germany, and he looks primed to play an even bigger role for his country this summer.

The attacker was clinical in Spain's qualifying group, scoring six goals in as many appearances. He's a cult hero at Real Sociedad, the only club he has represented at senior level. But thanks to his contributions on the international stage, he has earned the affections of fans of other clubs across his homeland.

Whether he starts or makes a cameo from the bench, I think the 28-year-old will have a part to play in this contest and there is no one with better credentials in the goalscorer market than him on current form.

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