Macedonia v Spain Betting: La Roja can be trusted to eke out low-scoring win

Wednesday night saw an experimental Spain side salvage a 2-2 friendly draw at home to Colombia with a late goal from substitute Alvaro Morata.

Manager Julen Lopetegui gave a rare start to Pepe Reina in goal and the Napoli keeper could have done better with both of Colombia's goals, while the second half saw Spain try playing three at the back.

Expect a more convetional line-up from La Roja when they travel to Skopje on Sunday evening for a vital World Cup qualifier against  a Macedonia side they beat 4-0 at home back in November. However, in their last home qualifier the Macedonians gave Italy an almighty scare and were leading 2-1 going into the latter stages before the Azzurri produced two late goals to claim a win.

bet365 offer Spain at just 2/11 (1.18) to pick up three points, while the hosts can be backed at 14/1 (15.00) and the draw is offered at 11/2 (6.50). 

Of course, Spain are big favorites and rightly so, yet in recent qualifiers we have had some success in backing them to win low-scoring games. Five of Spain's last six away qualifiers - either for the European championships or the World Cup - have seen less than three goals, and of those five games La Roja have won four.

Macedonia, meanwhile, have kept clean sheets in their last three matches and while they are unlikely to make that four in a row, they are capable of frustrating Lopetegui's side.  

A Spain win and under 2.5 goals in the game is offered at 21/10 (3.10), a tempting option, and one which paid out when Spain visited Macedonia in European championship qualifying in 2015.

On that occasion, La Roja won 1-0 and another low-scoring victory for Spain looks to be a solid option for this weekend's encounter. Spain have conceded just one goal in their last six away qualifiers, during which time they have only scored more than twice on one occasion, meaning the statistics more than reinforce our selection.