Next Thursday, 9th of October 2014, Slovakia will entertain the former World Champions, Spain, at the Stadion MSK Zilina for the second round of the Euro 2016 Qualifiers, on a match that will certainly prove to be a major test for La Roja.

After a nightmarish World Cup stint and after a defeat against France on a friendly match early in September, Spain managed to return to wins on the first round of the Group C of the Euro 2016 Qualifiers. The Spanish Armada hammered a fragile FYR Macedonia side on a match where Vicente Del Bosque promoted several changes in the starting line-up if we compared it to the team that failed miserably during the World Cup. Valencia’s striker Paco Alcacer was a breath of fresh air in the front and the presence of Koke and of a “refurbished” Fàbregas in the midfield line offered the team a completely different tempo and plenty more accuracy on the passing department.

Del Bosque and the Spanish Football Federation understood that something was significantly wrong with the team during and after last Summer’s tournament and, fortunately for La Roja’s supporters, they have decided to implement some changes. Apart from the newcomers, Del Bosque also experimented with a slightly different tactical approach as he changed the team’s flexible 4-3-3 to a slightly more rigid 4-1-4-1 system, thus eliminating the often deadly spaces that are often created between the team’s lines.

Next Thursday’s match against Slovakia will certainly be far from easy and Del Bosque cannot allow his team to start another streak of bad results, since such a thing would certainly constitute a huge blow for the recent shaky Spanish morale.

As for Slovakia, the Eastern European side seems to be enjoying a fairly good moment as they’ve managed to win four of their last five matches. Last month, Slovakia grabbed a very important win against Ukraine in Kiev, taking some advantage of the unrest that has taken hold of that country and apparently the national team.

The Slovaks didn’t have the control of the game but they were extremely dangerous during counter-attacks and managed to defend Mak’s early goal until the end of the match.

The home side’s manager, Jan Kozak, relies on the talent of Marek Hamsik, Miroslav Stoch and Vladimir Weiss, in order to cause La Roja a major upset next Thursday and, in fact, this might really be a good time to try and disturb the former World Champions.

Regardless of their poor displays during the World Cup, Spain have to be considered favourites for next Thursday’s match, but because of their recent positive moment, the Slovaks might have a word to say in the end.

Slovakia

Stats: W-4 L-1 D-0

Recent Form - WWLWW

Spain

Stats: W-2 L-3 D-0

Recent Form - WLWLL

Possible Line-ups

Slovakia (4-2-3-1) - Kozacik - Pekarik - Durica - Gyomber - Hubocan - Kucka - Pecovsky - Weiss - Hamsik - Mak - Nemec

Spain (4-1-4-1) – Casillas - Juanfran - S. Ramos - Albiol - Alba - Busquets - Koke - Fàbregas - Pedro - D. Silva - Paco Alcácel

Prediction

Slovakia 1 Spain 2