Turkey v Spain Match Result
It’s been a long time since Spain suffered a normal time defeat. They reached the Nations League final and played out an entertaining 2-2 draw with Portugal last summer. The tie then went to a penalty shootout where La Roja were defeated. That happened after a crazy 5-4 win over France where the Spanish were firmly in control despite the free-scoring nature of the contest.
Turkey might be encouraged by the way that Spain have been defensively profligate and that applied to a 5-5 aggregate draw with Netherlands in March. There was a 2-2 draw played out in Rotterdam before a 3-3 scoreline in Valencia before a penalty shootout success for the Spanish.
Preceding these crazy games were five straight wins for Spain. This is a high-scoring team who managed to find the net thirteen times in the space of those five games. What’s particularly impressive about the Spanish side is that the goals are often shared around the team and there’s certainly no reliance on a single player to find the net.
As for Turkey, they are the outsiders for this clash and they’ve been in decent form over the past few months. They were able to beat the United States in a summer friendly when they were able to recover from conceding an early goal to land a victory. This came after a comprehensive aggregate victory over Hungary in the Nations League.
The Turks were able to win 3-1 in Istanbul to secure a home advantage before an even bigger margin of triumph when scoring a 3-0 success in Budapest. However, this type of opponent is a bigger step up compared to the opposition that they have been facing. Perhaps they will be able to push their opponents close and secure a draw.
Goals Under/Over
The last seven Spain games have featured Over 2.5 Goals. In all of those games, La Roja have scored at least two times and that strengthens the possibility that we’ll see the match go over the goal line. Naturally, the bookies are offering short odds about the net bulging three times or more. However, it could even be worth going higher on the goal front in search of a bigger price.
Lamine Yamal, Ferran Torres and Mikel Oyarzabal are among the players who can get amongst the goals as well as Alvaro Morata. The veteran Como striker has thirty-seven goals for his country, with Dani Olmo and Fabian Ruiz also offering a threat from midfield.
As for Turkey, four of their past five games have seen the match go over the 2.5 goal line. The only time this didn’t happen was during a 1-0 defeat in Mexico although we should expect a more spirited attacking display here. The big question is how much possession that they’re going to get.
BTTS
It’s hard to believe that Spain will fail to score in any clash that they play. After all, La Roja have scored twenty-five times in the space of seven games that they’ve played. It’s fair to say that they’ve been the most dangerous international side this year and so the big question is whether Turkey will be able to find the net.
Vincenzo Montella’s side haven’t tend to draw many blanks although their opponents haven’t generally been on the same level as Spain. There was a 1-0 defeat against Mexico and a goalless draw at home to Wales. Aside from that, the team have been filling their boots. Two goals against the United States along with six over two games against the Hungarians.
Ultimately, Turkey need to go for the win here. That will enable them to stand a chance of avoiding a World Cup play-off for a chance to reach the 2026 tournament. Therefore, we’re leaning towards a Spain win and both teams to find the net. We can see this being along the lines of a 3-1 victory for the visitors as they have demonstrated their ability to outscore the opposition on a frequent basis.
First Goalscorer
The bookies give several Spanish players a roughly equal chance of scoring the opening goal of the game. It’s likely that Lamine Yamal could be the most popular pick and perhaps the Barcelona ace will be on penalty kicks. However, the winger’s goal return for his country is modest considering that there have only been six goals in the space of twenty-one appearances.
Barcelona team-mate Ferran Torres has a better strike rate for La Roja. The former Manchester City man has twenty-one goals in the space of forty-nine games. There’s also Real Sociedad’s Mikel Oyarzabal who has notched sixteen for his country along with debutant Jesus Rodriguez who plays with Alvaro Morata at Como.
Kerem Aktürkoğlu turns out up top for the Turks, with the Fenerbahce forward having scored twelve goals in the space of forty-four appearances. Real Madrid’s Arda Guler might get a chance to turn out against some of his club team-mates, with captain Hakan Çalhanoğlu likely to chip in with a few goals along the way. The Inter man likes to get into some attacking positions.