Italy will look to keep their wheels spinning on Wednesday, June 16, when they play host to Switzerland in their second match of EURO 2020. Having crushed Turkey in their opener, the Azzurri will feel confident they can take down their northern neighbors even though all of their last three meetings ended in a draw.
Italy vs Switzerland
When: Wednesday, June 16 – 21:000 CEST
Where: Stadio Olimpico in Rome, Italy
Weather: Cloudy, 25°C°
Referee: Sergei Karasev (RUS)
After beating Turkey in the tournament open, Italy have shown the continent they got what it takes to go far at EURO 2020. As a result, they’re expected to win tonight against Switzerland, who failed to beat Wales in Round 1.
Italy’s Winning Streak Is Now Nine Games Long
Italy have been in sensational form since Roberto Mancini took over as their head coach. They are without a single defeat since September 2018. Further, their winning run is now nine games long, which includes a victory against Turkey on Friday.
The Azzurri beat Turkey 3-0 in the EURO 2020 opener, which is a fantastic result on its own. Still, there’s a caveat – it took them 53 minutes to break the deadlock.
In fact, it wasn’t an Italian player who scored the opening goal. Instead, Turkey’s defender Merih Demiral scored an own goal to make it 1-0 for Italy. Ciro Immobile was the one to make it 2-0, while Lorenzo Insigne set the final score to 3-0 with a goal in the 79th minute.
The reason why there were no goals at halftime is that Turkey went with an ultra-defensive setup. The so-called “wall of meat” was able to hold off Italy’s attacks for almost an hour.
Still, this tactic backfired, as Turkey had practically few chances to score a goal of their own. In fact, none of their shots went towards the goal. Likely, the Swiss aren’t going to go with such a strategy.
Switzerland Love Playing Big Games
The Red Crosses were the favourites in their EURO 2020 opener against Wales, but failed to end the day with all three points. They instead had to settle for a 1-1 draw, even though the they were the better side throughout the game.
The Swiss had the ball in their possession for almost two-thirds of the game. What’s more, they produced twice as many goal attempts than the Dragons.
This suggests that the Swiss might not be great when expected to shine. Perhaps they can do better when they’re the underdogs?
Their results against big sides like Germany and Spain indeed suggest that’s the case. As a reminder, Switzerland forced draws against both Spain and Germany in 2020.
The Swiss have a really good squad this year, which seems to be strong in all the right areas. On top of that, they have a great coach in Vladimir Petkovic, who has plenty of experience with the Italian style of football.
Not only did he play for several Italian clubs in his youth, but he had also managed Lazio for two years before getting appointed as the Switzerland boss in 2014.
Italy vs Switzerland Betting Picks
Italy will probably go with the same starting XI as they did in the game against Turkey. The same probably goes for the Swiss. This suggests that we’re likely to see the hosts attacking for most of the time, with the away team looking for their chances from counter-attacks.
Italy have two ageing centre-backs (Chiellini and Bonucci), while their full-backs (Spinazzola and Florenzi/Di Lorenzo) spend more time in the final third than at the back. For these reasons, the Swiss should have a few chances to utilize their pacey forwards, especially Breel Embolo.
A weaker team on paper, but Switzerland shouldn’t be overlooked here. They might not necessarily win tonight, but they could undoubtedly hold Italy to a draw.
Prediction: Switzerland +0.75 Asian Handicap – 2.04 at Sportmarket
