Group E: Winless Spain in danger of crashing out at group stage

Lee Bassin
23 June 2021

Spain could be the highest profile casualty of the Euro 2020 group stage if they fail to beat Slovakia.

Slovakia vs Spain

When: Wednesday June 23, 17:00 BST

Where: Seville

How to watch: ITV

Group E qualification scenarios

Current leaders Sweden will qualify as group winners with victory over Poland. If the Swedes fail to win, Slovakia can overhaul them if they can defeat Spain.

However, despite drawing their opening two matches, Luis Enrique's men can still top the group if they beat Slovakia and Sweden lose to Poland.

Best bets

Spain to win 2-0

Ferran Torres to score at any time

International head-to-head

Slovakia wins: 1

Draws: 1

Spain wins: 4

Slovakia goals: 5

Spain goals: 11

It's now or never for under-performing Spain

Gerard Moreno fails from the spot for Spain against Poland

The tiki-taka brilliance of their predecessors is a distant memory, as Spain have laboured to two consecutive draws in their opening Group E games.

On the plus side, their performance last time out against Poland was a marked improvement from the Sweden stalemate. And, were it not for a missed penalty, Spain could well have taken all three points against the Poles.

With qualification for the last 16 still in their own hands, we're expecting that upward trajectory to continue against an equally inconsistent Slovakia, with a 2-0 Spain victory priced around 9/2.

Goalscorer bets

With just one goal in their first two games, Luis Enrique looks set to shuffle his pack in an attempt to save Spain's tournament, and perhaps his job!

The major beneficiary could be Manchester City's Ferran Torres, who has had to make do with a pair of substitute appearances thus far but should see an increased workload this time around.

Torres has two goals from his last three starts in a Spain shirt, and is around 11/10 to find the net in Seville.

Sweden vs Poland

When: Wednesday June 23, 17:00 BST

Where: Saint Petersburg

How to watch: ITV4

Best bets

Poland to win

Robert Lewandowski to score first

International head-to-head

Sweden wins: 14

Draws: 4

Poland wins: 8

Sweden goals: 57

Poland goals: 38

Pole position for Lewandowski

It's win or bust for Poland, but Sweden are unbeaten in their last seven games and have yet to concede a goal in this tournament, so they will be a tough nut to crack despite having already qualified for the last 16.

However, the Poles were much better against Spain than in their opening clash with Slovakia, and the sight of Robert Lewandowski opening his Euro 2020 account will have sent shivers down the spines of Swedish fans.

Poland are around 6/4 to put one over the Swedes, and with the extra motivation of their tournament life being on the line we're happy to roll with the Poles in Saint Petersburg.

Goalscorer bet

Robert Lewandowski's goal against Spain was his 54th of another record-breaking season, and he will feel a whole lot better going into this crunch clash.

Lewandowski has failed to score in just six of his previous 33 games, so when it comes to the Bayern Munich ace, one goal is usually followed very quickly by another.

And the sight of a fired-up Lewandowksi will be about as welcome to the Swedish defenders as taking a COVID test, with Poland's talisman a tempting price to open the scoring in Saint Petersburg.