Spain coach Julen Lopetegui knows his side will have to be at their very best if they are to secure a World Cup qualifying victory over Albania on Sunday night.
La Roja will travel to the Loro Borici Stadium after collecting four points from their opening two matches of the qualification process, following up a resounding 8-0 victory over Liechtenstein on Matchday One, with a 1-1 away draw against Italy last time out.
Those results leave Spain second in the qualifying group, two points behind Albania, who have won both their matches so far during qualifying, defeating both Macedonia and Liechtenstein.
Gianni De Biasi’s side impressed at Euro 2016 during the summer, their first major international tournament, and Lopetegui knows his team will face a stern test in Shkoder.
“Albania are a great opponent. They demonstrated this in the last Euros. We must give our best,” Lopetegui told reporters.
The former Porto boss believes his side’s qualifying group is extremely tough and they are going to have to be at their very best if they are to qualify for the finals in Russia.
He added: “It is going to be a very competitive qualifying group. There are two years of matches until the World Cup.”
Spain have won all five of their previous meetings with Albania – although the two sides have not gone head-to-head in over 23 years – and they are available at 1.33 to win the match, while the hosts are on offer at 11.00 and the draw is priced at 5.25.
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