Gli Azzurri will be travelling away from home for the first time in the tournament. London would be the first one to stop by for their campaign as Italy will be facing off Austria, the runner up from group C. Franco Foda’s side might not be the favourite to stumble Lorenzo Insigne and Co but they are definitely one trick opposition in EURO 2020. Wembley stadium shall be the witness of the encounter of these neighbouring nations.
Both teams’ previous games
Italy wrapped up the group stage by sealing another victory despite resting some of their main starting XI. They thumped Wales 1-0 by a single tap of Matteo Pessina to the far post of Danny Ward. They managed to keep their clean sheet again here.
Meanwhile, Austria also snatched an important narrow win while taking on Ukraine. Their winning goal was scored by Christopher Baumgartner. Such victory was enough to bump them up to the second in the standings.
Possible tactic
Roberto Mancini shall stick to his favourite 4-3-3 formation. His trident Ciro Immobile, Domenico Berarrdi and Lorenzo Insigne will be back occupying the front three role after being rested in the previous outing. Unfortunately, Giorgio Chiellini and Alessandro Florenzi miss out this match due to their injury. Francesco Acerbi and Giovanni De Lorenzo shall deputise them respectively.
Franco Foda is likely to keep his 4-3-2-1 formation. The injury of Christopher Baumgartner and Konrad Laimer would push David Alaba to play alongside Xavier Schlager behind Marko Arnautovic. He could swap his position with Marcel Sabitzer who could feature as the anchorman in the middle to accompany Stefan Illsanker and Julian Baumgartner or Stefan Grillisch. The left back position can be covered by Valentino Lazaro.
Players to watch
Ciro Immobile is back on the pitch and he is expected to add his tally here. The Lazio man has netted twice so far plus provided one assist in the tournament. Some other key men to watch are Lorenzo Insigne, Manuel Locatelli who scored two goals as well and Nico Barella.
The skipper David Alaba certainly is one of the vital names in the squad. The versatile wing back has made two assists so far in this year’s EURO. Beside the former Bayern man, Marcel Sabitzer is certainly another key figure with one assist plus the senior striker Marko Arnautovic.
Italy vs Austria Prediction
Despite not playing in Rome any longer, Roberto Mancini’s men are still the favourite here. They have all it takes to secure a win and possibly still remain having a clean sheet too. Austria’s more predictable attacking build-up and relying on set piece scenario to score should be easily anticipated by the Italians. They will come out as a winner with two goal difference.
Betting odds
Lorenzo Insigne and Co are projected to win at 7/12, whereas Austria’s odds to win is only at 37/5, which is quite close to the draw result. It is at the value of 31/10.
