Spain vs Norway Match Preview, Free Bets & Predictions

After an early exit at last year’s World Cup, Spain will now look to dust themselves off in the European Championship qualifiers.

One Game Away

Erling Haaland may well be lighting up the stage for Manchester City, but injury has ruled him out of doing the same for Norway on Saturday.

Massive Injury Blow

Saturday evening sees a new era for the Spanish national team, as Luis de la Fuente will lead his newly inherited charges into battle and after a miserable showing for La Rioja at the 2022 World Cup, it is time to look ahead to next year’s European Championships in Germany.

While for those with rather short memories, a reminder of how it all went wrong for Spain in Qatar. A Round of 16 meeting with Morocco was meant to be a relative walk in the park. It turned out to be an early flight home.

One that would eventually lead to Luis Enrique ending his second tenure as manager of Spain and one that would also lead to plenty of soul searching in cities such as Madrid, Barcelona, and Seville.

Now though, the focus will shift to seeing what de la Fuente can do as manager and with Norway serving as his first opponents in a qualification group that also includes Scotland, a perfect start is the expectation from his critics.

An expectation that has been made slightly easier after the injury that Erling Haaland has suffered. The Norwegian hitman will not be tasked with bloodying any opposition defenders this weekend and the Spanish football fraternity is subsequently breathing a huge sigh of relief.

Then again, Haaland is not the only player that can cause opponents damage and with Martin Odegaard having previously plied his trade in Spain for both Real Madrid and Real Sociedad, his return to Iberia will make a neat subplot.

Especially as the Arsenal forward has been tasked with helping Norway end their major tournament appearance drought – one that has not seen the Scandinavian nation at a finals since Euro 2000.

There was certainly a Norwegian purple patch at the end of the previous millennium. Not only did they make the Euro 2000 finals in the Netherlands and Belgium, but they were also a part of the World Cup 1994 and 1998 lineups.

Now though, manager Stale Solbakken will have to build on two friendly appearances at the back end of last year. A 2-1 win over the Republic of Ireland and a 1-1 draw with Finland gives him something to work with, but can his players get to work in sunny Spain?

With that in mind, we are now going to look at some tips and first of all I am going to look at Alvaro Morata. The former Chelsea forward had been given the captain’s armband for tomorrow night and I believe he will repay that faith by breaking the deadlock at odds of 3/1.

Spain vs Norway

Spain vs Norway Predictions

Our top value bet for this match

While I also believe Morata’s goal will help lead Spain to eventual victory and although Norway are without Haaland I can see them getting on the scoresheet. This is why I am also backing the 2-1 home win at odds of 8/1.

Spain vs Norway

Spain vs Norway Tips

Our Correct Score Prediction