Adrian Mills’ best bets for Friday’s first Euro 2024 quarter-final include a win for La Roja with an in-form winger finding the net.
Spain and Germany have been among the most impressive teams at Euro 2024 but only one of them will remain on course for glory after Friday’s heavyweight quarter-final fixture in Stuttgart.
La Roja are the only one of the quarter-finalists to have won all four of their matches although their sequence of three successive clean sheets came to an end with a 4-1 triumph over Georgia on Sunday.
However, Luis de la Fuente’s side will expect their toughest test of the tournament against hosts Germany, who are through to the quarter-finals of a major tournament for the first time since Euro 2016.
The Germans finished top of Group A with seven points before registering a 2-0 success over Denmark thanks to a Kai Havertz penalty and Jamal Musiala’s third goal of the tournament.
Best bets
Spain to win
17/10
Nico Williams to score at any time
4/1
Rodri to be carded
10/3
La Roja can show their class
Spain have not looked back since their dismal 2-0 loss away to Scotland in Euro 2024 qualifying and they can advance to a fourth European Championship semi-final in five attempts by defeating Germany at MHPArena in Stuttgart.
The Iberians have impressed in each of their outings this summer and their slick football may give them the edge over Germany, who have gone off the boil in the last two games.
Germany flew out of the blocks with a 5-1 success over Scotland but they needed an injury-time goal to salvage a 1-1 draw against Switzerland and were far from convincing in Saturday’s 2-0 triumph over Denmark.
Julian Nagelsmann’s side edged past the Danes with the help of a couple of VAR calls but they face a step up in class against Spain, who look tasty
17/10
shots to make it five wins from five.
Nico can find the net
Nico Williams is emerging as a key player for Spain and could have a decisive role to play in steering his country through to Euro 2024’s final four.
The Athletic Bilbao player started just one of Spain’s four matches at the 2022 World Cup, but he has been much more involved this summer and was named man of the match after excelling in the 1-0 group stage success over Italy.
Williams was on the scoresheet in the 4-1 triumph over Georgia and his rising confidence is a concern for Germany, who have not looked at ease when defending against genuine pace.
The Germans looked susceptible to swift counter-attacks in their 2-0 victory over Denmark and their vulnerabilities could be exposed by Williams, who looks a worthwhile
4/1
wager to net any time.
Rodri could collect another card
Rodri was the first player at Euro 2024 to collect two yellow cards and there is every chance of his caution count increasing against Germany.
The midfield battle is likely to be fiercely contested and one of Rodri’s main duties will be to deny time and space to Germany’s Toni Kroos, who likes to get on the ball and dictate the tempo of the game.
Rodri is similar to Kroos in that he also uses the ball extremely intelligently, but he is less disciplined when out of possession.
The 28-year-old enjoys the physical side of the game but he doesn’t always get his timings right and looks an overpriced
10/3
shot to go into the referee’s notebook.
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