Italy have gone winless in 6 games at international
tournaments but they’ve been one of the most eyecatching teams at Euro 2012 and
they can push for the quarter finals with a win over Ireland, who have been
well beaten in both their games so far. Cesare Prandelli’s men need to then
hope for a Spain or Croatia win in the other game, with a draw of 2-2 or higher
eliminating Prandelli’s men and a 1-1 draw needs a big winning margin for the
Azzuri.
As seen below, we expect Spain to do their part of the bargain,
while we also see this game as an Italy win, so while there’s sure to be a certain
amount of nervousness in some of the Italian camp, I’m pretty happy with the
standing of my 8/11 on Italy to qualify (struck before a ball was even kicked
elsewhere on the blog). Unbeaten in 12 competitive games under Cesare
Prandelli, Italy had been seen as lively outsiders by some in the competition but
still had a lot to prove according to others in the tournament, although they
answered many questions with an impressive performance against champions Spain
in their opening game, forcing many of the game’s best chances and moving into
a well - deserved lead before being pegged back by Cesc Fabregas’s equalizer.
They did much the same against Croatia, creating chances and taking a well-deserved
lead before being pegged back late on, although the Azzuri on that day didn’t help
themselves by dropping back deep and allowing Coratian pressure to build until
the deserved equalizer from Mario Mandzukic late on. Some could say that they
had failed to take advantage of their strong opening when drawing against
Coratia and the truth is that they were wasteful with their first half opportunities,
but against Ireland they should create more than enough chances to put the game
to bed.
The Italians will be delighted to welcome back Andrea
Barzagli, who’s s expected to feature despite missing the opening two matches
with a calf problem, and while they’ve looked extremely proficient and
attractive under a 3-5-2, the switch of Daniele De Rossi to a midfield role and
Thiago Motta to a far more forward attacking role should give Italy even more
potency in attack, while Andrea Cassano has been excellent so far – even more impressive
given that his life, let alone his footballing career, was on the line just a
few months ago – and Di Natale’s inclusion is more than deserved after his
performance against Spain and he might be the finishing touch that Italy need
to complement their midfield performances so far, led by the likes of Andrea Pirlo (left).
Ireland themselves have been beaten 7-1 in their two games
but they shouldn’t go home too disheartened. In Croatia and Italy they’ve
played the first and eight best teams in the world based on FIFA Rankings, and
there’s no shame in their two heavy losses, despite the fact they’ve played
slightly below themselves so far with goals conceded before the tenth minute of
both halves in their two games so far, but they should be looking to make it to
the next Euros (with 24 teams going instead of just 16) and maybe an easier
draw there should see them have a shout at making the quarters. For now
through, they look to have too little to trouble Italy, and with a win to nil
looking too short at even the extended 5/4, the best way to play this might be
to back 2 and 3-0 correct scores at 6/1 and 19/2, with Ireland having let in 3
and 4 goals so far in their respective games.
Advice
1 pt 2-0 Italy (6/1 general)
1 pt 3-0 Italy (19/2 Bet Victor)
No comments:
Post a Comment