Greece and Spain will go head-to-head in the 2022 World Cup qualifying Group B matchday 9 at the Olympic Stadium of Athens on Thursday. The kick-off is at 21:45 CEST.

Preview

It'll be a win-or-die clash for Greece, as John van 't Schip's men are now third in Group B table, four points behind their forthcoming opponents who sit in second with 13 points. With just two games left in the 2022 WC qualification, the Greek side absolutely have to beat Spain on Thursday to keep their hopes of qualifying for the Qatari tournament alive. The hosts, however, were beaten by group leaders Sweden 2-0 in their most recent encounter in October after defeating Georgia with the same scoreline in the preceding game.

Luis Enrique's side, for their part, will travel to Athens on the back of a bitter 2-1 loss to France in the 2020/21 Nations League final last month. As for their run in Group B, La Roja are just two points behind Sweden and will be looking to return to winning ways ahead of their head-to-head meeting with the Swede crop on Sunday.

Team news

Konstantinos Mavropanos will miss Greece's internationals this month through an injury while Pantelis Chatzidiakos and Anastasios Bakasetas are both suspended for Thursday's clash. Eric Garcia, Ansu Fati, Gerard Moreno, Yeremi Pino and Ferran Torres, meanwhile, will play no part for Spaniards in this one due to respective injury woes.

Prediction

Even without the likes of Garcia, Fati and Torres in the squad, Enrique has enough quality among his ranks to claim so much needed three points in the Greek capital this time around. What's more, La Roja will be eager to get even with Van 't Schip's crop for a 1-1 draw in Granada in March when they meet again on Thursday, so let's stick with the visitors in this one who badly need to defeat Greece to take one step towards an automatic qualification for next year's World Cup.

Tip

Spain to win and total over 1.5 at 1.87 with 1XBET.