Former Newcastle United star taunts England with 'easy' Euro 2024 prediction and names Spain’s dangerman

Jose Enrique believes Spain will “easily” beat England 3-0 in the Euro 2024 final - and tipped Lamine Yamal as the one to watch.

The Three Lions are preparing for consecutive finals looking to avenge the 2021 penalty shoot-out defeat to Italy. Despite scraping through the tournament, Gareth Southgate has a chance to etch his name into football folklore by ending England’s 58-year wait without a trophy.

Spain provide the sternest test yet and head into the clash as bookmakers’ favourites. La Roja have impressed since the opening game, netting 13 goals and sweeping aside the likes of Germany and France.

England are up against it and former Newcastle United defender Enrique - who represented Spain nine times at youth level - has backed his country to record a straightforward victory. He also highlighted Barcelona wonderkid Yamal - who turns 17 today - as the dangerman.

“I think Spain are going to beat England in the Euros final,” Enrique told Grosvenor Sport. “They will win easily in the end. If I had to pick a scoreline I would have to say that Spain will win 3-0. Spain are going to control the game. 

“I expect Gareth Southgate to set his team up in the same way they have all summer and sit back – much like they did against Holland in the semi-finals. However, when England conceded the early goal they looked like a completely different team. That’s when they started to push and threaten more. 

“If Spain don’t score early then I can see England sitting back much like they have been doing for most of the tournament. However, this is not going to work because, if England sit back against Spain, then they will really struggle against what I believe is the toughest attacking outfit they’ve faced yet. The likes of Lamine Yamal will really cause the England backline trouble if they’re too deep.

“If both teams don’t sit back and play too cautiously and instead really attack with their fluid frontlines, then this has the potential to be a really great game. If you look at the talent on both sides, England probably have even more talented players than Spain. However, given the performances across the whole tournament, you would have to say Spain are the better team.”