Nations League final preview: A heavyweight battle awaits

The Nations League final is finally here and with it we should see a climatic end to a competition that has already delivered. 

Spain and France go head-to-head in Milan on Sunday and we’ve previewed the action below.

Spain and France set for epic clash

Spain knocked out the champions of Europe Italy with their youthful side in the first of the two Nations League semi-finals this week, cementing their place in Sunday’s final. A brace from Manchester City’s Ferran Torres saw Spain end Italy’s mightily impressive run of 37 games unbeaten, and Spanish fans will be hoping there is more of the same to come from the forward, despite coming off with a slight injury, when they face the world champions in the final.

France were no less impressive in their semi-final when taking out the current no.1 ranked team in the world, Belgium, after going two goals down late in the first half. A dramatic stoppage-time winner was the difference between the two teams as Theo Hernandez struck late to send Les Bleus through to the final after an incredible second-half fightback which caught Belgium on the backfoot.  Thursday’s semi-final will be just the confidence boost that France needed after a poor summer campaign that saw them knocked out of Euro 2020 earlier than expected, followed by a couple of underwhelming performances that led to draws in the World Cup qualifiers.

Evenly contested final

The French will arrive in Milan as the slight favourites at 6/4, while Spain are priced as a 2/1 chance, but both prices show this is a wide open fixture with both teams desperate for some much needed silverware. There could be a few goals in this one if the semi-finals are anything to go by. France to win and both teams to score is 9/2, while Spain to do the same is 11/2.  Would you like to work out your potential winnings? Try our online betting calculator.

From a goalscorers’ perspective, you can find the favourites fairly predictable in Torres (21/10) and Kylian Mbappe (17/10) to score at any time, but when considered that they both hit the back of the net in their respective semi-finals, it would be hard to imagine a situation where either of these prolific scorers didn’t repeat the trick here.

With two thrilling semi-finals already under our belts this week, this could be a climatic end to a quality week of international football. Whoever you find yourself rooting for in this fixture, it looks sure to be one for the football fan to appreciate with two heavyweights finding their feet.

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