Switzerland vs Spain Prediction: The Draw is a good price at 11/4

Spain dominated their match against Serbia on Thursday evening but failed to score and came away with a 0-0 draw.

On Sunday evening, (19:45, YouTube) they travel to Switzerland and our La Liga Betting Expert previews the encounter as he takes us through his Switzerland vs Spain Predictions...

Switzerland and Spain meet for the sixth time in five years in Geneva on Sunday. The sides have been paired together for the third UEFA Nations League in a row, and none of those recent clashes have been settled by more than a single goal.

The most important meeting in recent times came at Euro 2020 when Spain won a quarter-final on penalties after drawing 1-1 against their 10-man opponents across 120 minutes.

The most recent encounters came in the Nations League in 2022 with both meetings ending in away victories, the most recent of which was a surprise 2-1 Swiss win in Zaragoza in September of that year.

Luis Enrique was still the Spanish boss at that point and remarkably not a single starting outfielder that night, was in the lineup when La Roja took to the field against England in the final of Euro 2024 this summer.

Luis de la Fuente has transformed the fortunes of a side that has since won both the Nations League and the Euros. However, his team couldn’t make a winning start to the 2024/25 edition of this tournament which commenced for Spain with a goalless draw away to Serbia on Thursday.

It extended their unbeaten run to 16 matches in competitive internationals. There was the hint of a Euro 2024 hangover in the first half, but the European champions were much brighter after the break with Lamine Yamal the game’s outstanding player on the right flank in a performance not dissimilar to the ones we saw from Spain in Germany.

They enjoyed nearly 74% of the ball and had 21 attempts on goal and nine corners, but couldn’t find a way past Predrag Rajković in the Serbian goal.

In theory, this should be a tougher test against a Swiss side that has reached the knockout stage of each of the last six major tournaments. They were eliminated by England on penalties at Euro 2024, despite not losing a match during an impressive run to the quarter-finals which saw them also hold Germany and defeat Italy.

It wasn’t such an impressive start to their latest Nations League campaign though. Murat Yakin’s side were well beaten in Copenhagen, losing 2-0 against Denmark in a surprisingly ill-tempered match which saw the referee dish out seven yellow cards and two reds with Nico Elvedi and Granit Xhaka dismissed for the visitors.

The Swiss had lost just once in 19 international matches prior to that. They’ll be targeting a top two finish in this group which would mean progress to the quarter-final stage in the spring of 2025.

They do look to be heading into something of a transitional phase though, after some key players retired from international football following Euro 2024. Yann Sommer, Fabian Schär and Xherdan Shaqiri, three mainstays of the Swiss side across the past decade, have all retired after excellent international careers that saw them earn a combined total of more than 300 caps.

Team News:

Given the recent retirements, the last thing the Swiss needed was to lose Xhaka, their captain and most experienced player with 131 international appearances, for this game due to suspension. Borussia Mönchengladbach defender Elvedi will also miss the match for the same reason.

Uncapped defender Dominik Schmid was the only injury withdrawal from the initial squad for these games, with Yakin likely to consider one or two other changes following defeat in Denmark.

De la Fuente went strong with his Spain lineup in Belgrade on Thursday, although he was missing Unai Simón and Álvaro Morata to injuries. Rodri was the other notable absentee with the Man City midfielder short on match fitness, but he is in the squad and expected to play some part on Sunday.

Euro 2024 final match winner Mikel Oyarzabal has also picked up an injury and been forced to withdraw from the squad, leaving Joselu and Ayoze Pérez as the main options for the striker role in this game.

Switzerland vs Spain Odds

Spain start as the 7/10 favourites for this Nations League clash, with the Draw priced at 11/4 and Switzerland on offer at 4/1.

You can back Both teams to score at Evens, a winning bet in four of the last six meetings. Three of those games did only end 1-1 though and a repeat scoreline is priced at 13/2 here.

Under 2.5 goals is on offer at 4/6, while if you’re expecting the hosts to be competitive, Switzerland or Draw is priced at 11/10 in the Double Chance market.

If there is a flaw in this Spanish side that was so impressive at Euro 2024, it is the absence of a natural goalscorer and that’s reflected in the goalscorer markets. Joselu is the 9/5 favourite to score anytime in this match, but there are a number of other options with Ayoze Pérez available at 2/1, Dani Olmo at 5/2 and Lamine Yamal at 3/1 to get on the scoresheet.

From a Swiss perspective, striker Breel Embolo looks like the standout option at 10/1 to score first and 18/5 to score anytime.

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Bet 1 - Draw @ 11/4

Punters will need to weigh up just how significant those recent Swiss retirements and suspensions are. They’ve certainly lost some important players from what was an incredibly settled side in the changeable world of international football.

However, they can still call upon the likes of Embolo, Manuel Akanji, Ricardo Rodriguez, Ruben Vargas, Remo Freuler and Denis Zakaria for this match. All of those players have appeared more than 50 times for their national team, with the exception of Vargas who should earn his 50th cap on Sunday.

It’s therefore still going to be an experienced side that takes to the field and with just one competitive home defeat in the past decade for the Swiss, they look capable of getting something from this match and I’m backing the Draw at 11/4.

Bet 2 - Team corners - Spain Over 5.5 @ 21/20

Spain were dominant without scoring against Serbia in their Nations League opener and with wingers Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams, they are a team that’s set up to play the ball wide and run at defenders which can end up in them winning plenty of corners.

They won nine against the Serbs and also had 10 corners in the final of Euro 2024 against England. This game feels like it could follow a similar pattern to their match in Belgrade, with La Roja in control but potentially struggling to break down a disciplined Swiss defence and I’m going with Spain to win over 5.5 corners at 21/20.

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