Stuart Pearce has tipped Spain to beat England in the European Under-21 Championship final.
Lee Carsley’s side have the chance to win the tournament for the first time since 1984 as they look to finish the job on Saturday evening – with talkSPORT being the only place on radio to catch the showpiece event.
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Preparing for their first final in 14 years, England will be brimming with confidence after a 3-0 win over Israel in the semi-finals, extending their impressive run of not conceding a goal so far in the tournament.
However facing a Spain side who beat Ukraine 5-1 in the final four, Pearce believes that England are at risk of being outside against the Spaniards.
Speaking on The Sports Breakfast, Pearce said: “Both teams are impressive but England were probably up against the weaker opponents in Israel who just sat off and didn’t offer a great deal other than the odd counter attack.
“Spain on the other hand, Ukraine aren’t a bad side and Spain put them to the sword with a 5-1 win.
“They’re an impressive outfit but both teams are. They’re the two strongest teams in the tournament from what I’ve seen and they’ve both made the final.
“It’ll be a great final and what that we’ve got the opportunity of winning.”
Discussing Spain’s threat in more detail, Pearce said: “[Abel] Ruiz leads the line for them brilliantly as a centre forward. They like to dominate the ball but then again, England do too.
“I’ve been covering it and I was asked to make a prediction leading into it and I probably just edged on Spain and from what I’ve seen – my heart wants England to win and I’m desperate for England to win but from what I’ve seen over the tournament and the semis, I think that Spain might just have a little bit more but it’s going to be a great game.”
TalkSPORT will be the only place on radio to catch England under-21s showpiece clash with Spain under-21s in Georgia.
The clash kicks off at 5pm on Saturday 8th July with commentary coming from Alex Crook and Darren Ambrose.
