Spain vs Portugal Betting Tips for Nations League First Top Game

The 2022/23 Nations League season starts next week with the first group games in all four leagues. Fans can already watch some great matches on Matchday 1. Like the Mediterranean derby between Spain and Portugal. Spain vs Portugal betting tips favor the home team to get the three points but the guests surely won’t be an easy opponent. 

The third edition of the UEFA Nations League will begin on the 1st of June with the Poland vs Wales match. 55 European national teams taking part in the competition with the exception of Russia whose team is still banned from all UEFA competitions. Like in the previous editions, there are four groups of four teams in League A, B, and C.  And only two groups for the smallest nations in League D. 

The four group winners in League A will advance to the Nations League Finals which will be held next June. The group winners of the other leagues gain automatic promotion, while last-placed teams in all groups will be relegated to the lower divisions. France is the defending champions and one of the favorites again after being in a relatively easy group. Unlike last season’s runner-up, Spain whose team is in the same group as Portugal. 

The home team is favored in Spain vs Portugal betting tips 

Spain will host their local rivals, Portugal in their first Nations League group match next Thursday, the 2nd of June. Both teams will compete at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar in November.  And can use these games to prepare for the competition. Surely the hosts want to win the game at the Benito Villamarin Stadium in Seville in front of the home fans. And they are favored to do so by online sportsbooks in Spain. Their odds to get the three points are 2.20. Luis Enrique’s team usually plays great attacking football. Thanks to its creative and highly-skilled players like Pedri, Gavi, and Ansu Fati, the young talents of FC Barcelona. 

But experienced players such as Sergio Busquets, Jordi Alba, and Koke can also create lots of goal-scoring situations. But Spain vs Portugal betting tips offer the smallest odds, 2.40 for Alvaro Morata to score any time during the match. Raul de Tomas, Ferran Torres, and Pablo Sarabia follow him with the odds of 3.00, 3.40, and 3.60. Spain reached the semi-final in last year’s European Championship after losing against Italy in the extra time. While they finished as a runner-up in last year’s Nations League. Making them one of the top favorites of this tournament again. 

Can Portugal surprise the hosts?

The Portuguese team only finished second in their World Cup qualifying group so they had to earn their place through the play-off. Which they did easily after winning against Turkey and North Macedonia. Still, it was a worrying sign that the team might not be as strong as before. Their manager, Fernando Santos has been under scrutiny even though he led the team to victory in the 2016 European Championship. What’s more, his team also won the first edition of the Nations League in 2019. While last year Portugal finished second in their group behind France. 

Online gambling sites in Spain don’t underestimate them though and offer the odds of 3.25 for their win. The team’s legend, Cristiano Ronaldo still has the smallest odds, 2.30 to score a goal. Followed by his younger teammates, Liverpool forward Diogo Jota (3.75) and RB Leipzig player Andre Silva (3.75). The last four matches between these two teams ended with a draw which is a possible result again and has the odds of 3.40. But hopefully, fans can see a few goals now unlike on the last two occasions with both games ending with a 0-0 draw. No surprise though that bookmakers offer the smaller odds, 1.66 for less than 2,5 goals. While seeing over 2,5 goals in the match has the odds of 2.20 on bet365.