Spain v Saudi Arabia Betting Markets
Spain's failure to beat Cape Verde in their Group H opener was an absolute coupon-buster. They're now trading at odds of 1.10 to overcome Saudi Arabia, with these odds suggesting that Luis de la Fuente's side have a roughly 90% chance of landing a victory in Atlanta. However, the above price isn't for the faint-hearted considering you would need a significant outlay to get a return.
The Saudis banked a point against Uruguay which could prove to be very valuable, with the Green Falcons having warmed up for the tournament with a goalless draw against Senegal. However, they were played off the park in their World Cup opener and faced an onslaught for much of the game where La Celeste laid siege to the opposition goal.
A Spain win along with BTTS No could be a better wager to add to your accumulator. This is trading at around the 1.50 mark and it's hard to see the outsiders having much of the ball, let alone serious chance creation. An early Spanish goal could well be on the cards and perhaps it's worth combining a couple of correct scores. A 3-0 and 4-0 win could be a nice way of getting some entertainment from the encounter.
Saudi Arabia are no strangers to landing shock results and they beat Argentina in Qatar before the latter were crowned as world champions. That 1-1 draw against Uruguay at least shows resilience and they racked up an XG of 0.66 against their opponents' XG of 1.72.
Goals Under/Over
The Over 2.5 Goals quote is trading at around 1.50. This suggests that there's a 66% chance of three or more being scored. Let's work on the basis that Saudi Arabia are unlikely to score. It means that you are effectively betting on whether Spain win by a 3-0 scoreline or bigger if wagering on the overs.
Over the course of ninety minutes, it's easy to see the Spanish finding the net at least three times. We've seen France, Germany, England, Norway and Argentina reach that goal total and many of the mentioned sides have surpassed that amount. It's a 3-0 or 4-0 correct score which is along the right lines and perhaps Over 3.5 Goals could be worth chancing.
Much depends on whether the first goal is scored early in the game. Spain going ahead in the first few minutes could lead to a deluge, although Saudi Arabia will want to operate a mean defence and they will draw confidence from the way that Cape Verde set about denying the European champions.
BTTS
Both teams not to score is operating at betting odds of 1.36 which means there's a 75% chance that at least Spain or Saudi Arabia will draw a blank. The former will dominate the ball and surely create the lion's share of the chances, with the European side having landed a number of clean sheets along the way.
They played out that goalless draw with Cape Verde where the opposition didn't create many chances of note. Peru and Iraq did score against the Spanish in friendlies, although it's usually the case that the European champions achieve a clean sheet in more significant matches. Just two were conceded in their six World Cup qualifying games and they both came against Turkey in a dead rubber.
The combination of Spain winning and BTTS No makes appeal, with Saudi Arabia reaching a 0.66 Expected Goals amount after having a total shot count of seven against Uruguay. They did have ten touches in the opposition box although we might not expect them to foray forward too many times.
First Goalscorer
Mikel Oyarzabal is likely to continue as the centre forward for Spain and the Real Sociedad player averages a goal every two games for his country. It remains to be seen whether Lamine Yamal will be given the nod although a goalless draw against Cape Verde might prompt Luis de la Fuente to give the Barcelona star a place in the starting 11.
Nico Williams might also be called in from the wings in place of Gavi so that Spain's attacking trident can cause problems. With the front three likely to be heavily marked, perhaps the scoring duties will fall to Fabian Ruiz, with the Paris Saint-Germain player likely to rove forward in search of goals.
Rodri is a Manchester City player who can score from long range and also had a strong aerial threat, with Pedri still potentially in line to be nominated as one of the best players in the tournament.