- Spain U19 have won nine of their last ten fixtures across all competitions, losing once, and have scored an average of 3 goals per game during their last five consecutive victories.
- Germany U19 have won three of their last five fixtures, but they lost the last match 4-0 to Spain U19.
- Spain U19 have won each of their last two home games.
Red and yellow dominate on their own patch
This is a chess match for the ages: Spain U19 want to sit on the ball, press selectively and then dominate possession, while Germany U19 want to nick it high and turn this into a track meet. The home side are likely to win, and the odds are a shade too good to ignore.
Spain are heavy favourites at 1/4, while Germany U19 are priced at 15/2 and the draw at 4/1, but it's the home team's odds which look worth the risk. Spain come into this encounter with a five-game winning streak, which has included a 3-0 win away to Denmark U19, the 4-0 trouncing of Germany U19 and a 3-0 victory against Croatia U19.
It's this last result that should concern the Germans, as Spain put four past them last week, so Spain U19 will arrive confident of winning. Paco Gallardo's men play an elegant, technical 4-3-3 system based around a triangular midfield of three players, two wide outlets and two full-backs who stretch the field. They can also make the system compact when they need to, but their main focus is control.
Germany U19 are no slouchs themselves, they play a similar system but are a little more flexible, either playing a 4-3-3 or a three-at-the-back system. They can be compact when necessary, but they press aggressively and they can fly forward at a moment's notice with their attacking trio. Germany will be up for this match, but Spain have won both of the last two H2H meetings without conceding a draw.
Going for a home win
Germany U19 have won seven of their last ten matches across all competitions, drawing two and losing just once, so they're no walkovers by any stretch of the imagination. However, they failed to win either of their last two away games against Spain, so this is a home fixture which should go red and yellow on the odds alone.
The market makes sense, Spain U19 have five wins and one defeat in home matches across all competitions, scoring an average of 3.50 goals and conceding 1.00. Germany U19 have two wins, a draw and a defeat from four away matches, scoring 13 goals (3.25 per-game average) in the process.
Spain's attack has been ruthless in recent matches, averaging 3.00 goals across their five-game win streak while they haven't conceded in their last three, so a Spain win to nil looks great in the goal markets. In the correct score market, I'm going for a 2-0 result, as I can't see this being a 4-0 repeat, and a tight game looks likely with Under 2.5 goals at 139/100 and Both Teams To Score - No at 83/100. Otto Stange has scored four of Germany's nine goals across their recent five-game run, so he could be the livewire and a 2-0 Spain result is my pick.
