Croatia vs. Spain 6/28/21 Euro Cup 2021 Soccer Pick, Odds, and Prediction

Croatia and Spain are clashing at Parken in the Round of 16 in the Euro Cup 2021. With a win against Scotland in the last round of the group stage, Croatia was able to get to second place in their group, and they have qualified for the next stage. Spain has also needed a win in the last round after 2 draws in a row, and they succeeded by beating Slovakia at home.

Up until that game against Scotland, Croatia hasn’t shown much, but everything came back to them when needed the most. Croatia was the better team in that match with 66% of ball possession, 6 shots on goal, 5 corner kicks, 1 big chance created, and a solid 88% of the correct passes. With a goal in the 17^th minute, Croatia was ahead, but just before halftime, Scotland has tied the score to 1-1. Croatia has scored 2 more beautiful goals in the second half, and they have deservedly won that match 3-1. Perisic is now the leading goalscorer for Scotland with 2 goals, but he will miss this game because he tested positive for Covid, and that is a huge blow for Croatia. Modric and Vlasic added 1 goal each. Croatia is in good mood right now, and everyone is playing better after that win against Scotland, but this is the game where the real competition starts, and it will be a tough one.

Same as Croatia, Spain hasn’t shown much in their first games in the group stage, except the high ball possession. Spain has had 2 draws in their first two games, and they needed a win in their last match to advance, and boy did they do it. Spain was facing Slovakia in that game, and they were fantastic with 66% of ball possession, 9 shots on goal, 7 corner kicks, 4 big chances created, and a high 90% of the correct passes. Spain missed a penalty kick in the 12^th minute, but Slovakia has scored an own goal in the 30^th minute, while Spain scored another one at the end of the first half. With 3 more scored goals in the second half, Spain has dominantly won this game 0-5. Torres, Laporte, Morata, and Sarabia have each scored 1 goal for Spain at the moment, while Moreno added 2 assists. Only a fool would say Spain is a bad team despite struggling in the attacking end, but when they get going, they are hard to stop. Spain will need to stay on top of their game to go through, and they are certainly capable of it.

Spain hasn’t lost in their last 10 games, but Croatia has had success against Spain, and they are in good form. I don’t think Spain should be such a massive favorite in this match because I think Croatia will have a say in this game, but I will stick to the Draw because I think this game could go to overtime.