On 15th November at Estadio Nuevo Colombino in Huelva, Spain plays Belarus for Group C of the qualifying round of the UEFA European Championship 2016.
The Champions are not doing all that well in the qualifying round. Having lost the match at Slovakia, they are currently second in the ranking table and they are 3 points behind the leaders. They need to win this one to either keep their distance from the top, or, with some favorable conditions, tie with Slovakia for first, if they lose their fixture against FYR Macedonia.
Belarus are second to last, with two defeats and one draw. They are not expected to play any part in the qualification and it is a question if they are going to win any other match except the one against Luxemburg at home. The best expectation anyone could have in their side is to walk away with a respectable defeat rather than a route.
There are only two factual questions here. Belarus has scored twice so far. Can they score a third? Spain has scored 10 goals in three games. Will it be another 5-1 victory like the one against FYR Macedonia? Based on the fact that the only game Spain kept a clean sheet is the one against Luxemburg, odds say that Belarus may have a chance of scoring once.
The last time these two sides met Spain won 2-1. Actually Spain had a better match at the second leg of the encounters where they won again in the away game 0-4. This is yet another indication that Belarus stands no chance of anything else than a loss.
At such odds of victory Vicente Del Bosque may even use a few substitutes to give some of his key players a rest.