Thursday evening’s match at the Estadio Castelao sees European and World Champions Spain face Italy is the second of the Confederations Cup semi-finals.

Brazil will face the winners in Sunday’s final, after the hosts beat Uruguay 2-1 at the Estadio Mineirao yesterday.

Spain coach Vincente Del Bosque will assess the fitness of Roberto Soldado and Cesc Fabrgras before naming his team, with both players having been substituted with minor muscle problems in Sunday’s win over Nigeria.

Fernando Torres is currently the tournament’s top scorer with five goals, and the Chelsea striker is favourite to open the scoring here at the 5.5 (9/2) with Paddy Power, while David Villa is available at 6.0 (5/1) with the same firm.

The Spaniards are odds on to win the game in ninety minutes, and are widely available at 1.4 (2/5), with Italy as highly priced as the 9.0 (8/1) offered by Bet Victor. Bet 365 offer the best price of 5.0 (4/1) for the game to go to extra time.

Italy go in to the game without striker Mario Balotelli, who will miss the rest of the competition with a thigh injury, so Alberto Gilardino is expected to start upfront.

Right back Ignazio Abate is also out, though Andrea Pirlo is expected to recover from a calf strain in time to feature and Daniele De Rossi is available following suspension.

Back up goalkeeper Salvatore Sirigu is doubtful with a knee injury, while Riccardio Montolivo has recovered from the head injury he picked up in Saturday’s defeat to Brazil.

Gilardino is 13.0 (12/1) with Paddy Power to get the first goal of the game, with Claudio Marchisio worth considering at 23.0 (22/1) with the same firm.

Almost an entire year has passed since these two sides met in the final of the European Championships, where Spain recorded a magnificent 4-0 victory.

The Group A winners are unbeaten in twenty-five internationals, winning twenty-one of those matches so it is difficult to see past another convincing win for the Spanish here.

Spain are priced at 5.5 (9/2) with Sky Bet to score four or more goals, whilst the same firm offer 2.38 (11/8) for them to win without conceding.