Romania U21 vs Spain U21: Betting tips, predictions, odds & match preview
Romania U21 and Spain U21 face off in the 2023 UEFA U21 Championship opening round on Wednesday evening (7:45pm, UK time).
Romania U21 vs Spain U21: Betting tips
Odds correct at the time of writing. 18+ Only. Terms and Conditions Apply.
Romania U21 vs Spain U21: Predictions
Romania U21 vs Spain U21: Predictions |
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| Bet | Prediction | Best odds |
| BTTS? | No | 4/6 with Sky Bet |
| Correct score | Romania U21 0-3 Spain U21 | 7/1 with Bet365 |
| First Goalscorer | Abel Ruiz | 9/2 with Sky Bet |
Romania, who are hosting the 2023 competition alongside Georgia, reached the semi-finals in 2019 but failed to progress beyond the group stage two years ago, when Spain, as holders, reached the knockout rounds for the fifth time in the last six editions of the competition.
Having not qualified for the U21 tournament between hosting the 1998 finals and 2019, Romania is making their third successive appearance. They’re best result came in 2019 when they finished top of Group C before conceding two late goals to lose 4-2 to Germany in the semi-finals.
In 2021, a side coached by Adrian Mutu finished third in Group A despite remaining unbeaten in their three fixtures (one win and two draws), losing out on goals scored to the Netherlands and eventual champions Germany after all three teams had picked up five points.
Romania are unbeaten in their last five competitive U21 fixtures (two wins and three draws) and has suffered only one defeat in their last 12 (seven wins and four draws). They are unbeaten in all six of their group games at the finals (three wins and three draws).
The joint most successful side in European U21 Championship history with five titles, level with Italy, Spain is in the final tournament for the 11th time overall and the seventh in eight editions, failing to qualify only in 2015 during that sequence.
La Rojita have been champions in three of the last six tournaments – 2011, 2013 and 2019 – and have reached the semi-finals or better in each of the last three. They have not failed to progress from their group since 2009.
Spain won all eight of their qualifying fixtures for the 2023 finals, finishing nine points clear of runners-up Slovakia in Group C. They scored 37 goals and conceded only five. Abel Ruiz was the team’s leading individual marksman with seven goals.
Group B is completed by Ukraine and Croatia, with all six matches in Bucharest at either the Steaua Stadium or the Giulești Stadium.
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Romania U21 vs Spain U21 match stats
Spain ran out 4-1 winners against Romania in a friendly at the CFR Cluj Stadium on 23 September 2022, Abel Ruiz scoring twice in the first half and Rodrigo Riquelme late in the second with David Miculescu providing the home team’s consolation goal.
That was the sides’ first fixture since March 2019 friendly in Granada, Mikel Merino’s 67th-minute strike for Spain proving enough for a 1-0 home victory.
The countries have not met in the European U21 Championship since 1987 when Loren scored the only goal of Spain’s away victory in Buzău in the qualifiers for the 1988 finals. Spain had also won 1-0 at home in Córdoba the previous year, thanks to another Loren goal, and went on to finish top in qualifying Group 1 on ten points, four ahead of runners-up Romania, before losing 3-1 on aggregate to the Netherlands in the quarter-finals.
Both teams had won at home in the qualifiers for the inaugural 1978 competition, a Dani hat-trick helping Spain to a 3-0 victory in Madrid in April 1977 before a 4-0 Romania success in Bucharest six months later, but both were eliminated after finishing behind Yugoslavia in their section.
Romania U21 vs Spain U21: Squawka Says
Scoreline prediction: Romania U21 0-3 Spain U21
Romania U21 vs Spain U21 head-to-head
23 September 2022 – Romania U21 1-4 Spain U21 – International Friendly
21 March 2019 – Spain U21 1-0 Romania U21 – International Friendly
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