England v Spain – International Friendly Preview

Vicente del Bosque’s squad hasn’t been as prolific in friendly games as they are in competitive matches. Their loss to Italy early in September marks their third friendly loss in the last twelve months, the others being heavy defeats suffered at the hands of Portugal and Argentina. Many will argue that international friendlies shouldn’t be a point of concern but the Spaniards will definitely have perfection in mind and this means winning every game, competitive or not. La Furia Roja’s mainstays will be excited to feature against England at the weekend, with nearly all of them fit and in good form. The only possible absentee for Spain in their next two friendlies will be Alvaro Negredo and it remains to be seen whether he will make the bench in these games. England will want to try out an attacking formation without key players in Ashley Young and Wayne Rooney. It goes without saying that their fate in this game will depend on the cohesiveness of their back four as their players up front will need to cope with Capello’s possible experimentations. History makes Spain favorites however as they take on the Three Lions at Wembley this weekend. The last time England beat Spain was way back in 2001 via a 3-0 trouncing. The thing is, the last three games between these two sides were all won by Spain albeit narrowly, and I think this time Spaniards will repeat the history and will win again (odds around 2,15) in this thrilling clashdown!]]>