Spain vs France: Three tips for the Nations League final

Live on Sky Sports, Spain come up against France in the Nations League Final this Sunday at the San Siro stadium at 7.45pm. Luis Enrique’s side overcame the Euro 2020 champions Italy in the semifinal to qualify for this final while France produced an epic comeback from 2-0 down at halftime to win 3-2 against a strong Belgium side.

Having already witnessed two hugely entertaining semifinals, I am expecting another blockbuster of a clash here with 2 powerhouse nations going up against each other. Having drawn 5 of their last 7 games, France’s form does look shaky overall but their comeback win over Belgium will certainly give them confidence ahead of this final. These 2 sides have met each other 10 times in the past and Spain has the edge on that front with 5 wins, 2 draws and 3 losses. With Mbappe and Benzema linking up for France and Ferran Torres banging in goals for Spain, we are in for a fantastic Sunday night of football. As usual, I have covered this clash with 3 of my best betting angles included in the preview below:

- Both teams to receive a card in the match – YES
- Over 0 goals in the 2nd half for both teams combined
- Under 6 goals in the match for both teams combined
 

The Nations League trophy is up for grabs in this final and we have a card-happy referee Anthony Taylor in charge of this one. I can see both teams picking up at least 1 card here for tactical fouls especially if a team is leading in the 2nd half. Spain have seen a 2nd half goal scored in their last 9 out of 9 games while France have seen a 2nd half  goal scored in their last 5 out of 6 games. Lastly, Spain and France have never seen 6 goals scored in a head-to-head game in their history (10 games played). Combining these 3 selections gives us a solid betbuilder and I am happy to stake 1pt on it.

With Kante and Adrien Rabiot both missing, Tchouameni will almost certainly start here after his impressive 15-minute cameo against Belgium where he came on as a substitute. He will be up against a Spain side that loves keeping the ball so there will be plenty of opportunities for him to make tackles and I can certainly see him mistiming one of them to pick up a card.  He has already picked up 3 cards in 7 starts for Monaco in the French league this season and has also been booked in 2 of his 4 champions league starts. 16/5 is a fantastic price with a card happy ref Anthony Taylor in charge and we will take it with a small 0.5pt stake.

Ferran Torres is the man in form for Spain at the moment. He scored 2 goals in the Nations League semifinal against Italy and has also scored 4 goals in 6 world cup qualifiers for his country. He will fancy his chances of grabbing another goal against a France defence that has conceded in their last 6/7 games. Mbappe has 4 assists in his last 7 games for club and country combined and also registered an assist in the semifinal against Belgium. Combining these 2 selections gives us a juicy longshot double @ 23/1 and I am happy to have a very small 0.25pt stake on that.