Spain need to win and put in a good performance against the weakest nation in the Group, which will help them recover from the shock loss in their opening game against Hitzfeld’s side, who denied them an easy passage into the round of 16…

Spain - Honduras.

It was a poor start to the tournament for Del Bosque’s team when they were throttled by the Swiss clever tactics as they struggled to find an antidote and get a positive result in their opening clash. Whilst they dominated possession and moved the ball well round the pitch, they lacked decisiveness in the final third and the pressure they applied on the opposition goal mouth had no rewards. Once they conceded they reverted to an attacking 4-4-2 with Villa and Torres up front. Xavi Alonso rattled the woodwork in the 71st minute but all other attempts didn’t produce the desired result.

Probable Line-up (4-1-4-1): Casillas, Ramos, Pique, Puyol, Capdevila, Alonso, Navas, Fabregas, Xavi, Silva, Villa

 Honduras couldn’t get anything out of the game against Chile when they lost 0-1 and the final score line actually flatters them given the amount of scoring opportunities their opponents had and the few they created throughout the course of the 90 minutes. Rueda’s team headed into the game with a defensive approach and their first priority was to protect their goalmouth. They conceded in the 34th minute and didn’t really threaten Chile after that and were quite fortunate not to have lost by a greater margin. They head into today’s game against Spain with the intention of enjoying the game and hoping to leave a good impression with a respectable performance.

Probable Line-up (4-2-3-1): Valladares, Mendoza, Chavez, Figueroa, Izaguirre, Guevara, Palacios, Alvarez, Nunez, Espinoza, Suazo

Selection: Its crunch time for the European champions and Del Bosque’s team need to beat a team with limited ability. Honduras’s style of play will suit the Spaniards, who should be able to find space and create plenty of opportunities. I expect plenty of goals so my selection will be OVER 2.5 goals.