Italy’s place as giants in world football will be confirmed with their performance at the Euro 2020 finals set to kick off a few weeks from now. The former world champions sunk to an all time low after failing to make it to the 2018 FIFA World Cup and the image of a teary Gianluigi Buffon captured the moment and emotions vividly.
It has taken years of restructuring and injecting new blood in the team while trying to keep their identity. To a large extent this is all working and the Italian shimmer is back, with the Azzuri tipped among the favorites going to the tournament scheduled for June-July across 11 cities in Europe.
Predictions on who will win the competition have been flying around and this is bound to get more accurate as nations get to pick their squads. With Italy pooled in a tricky Group A and playing all their group games at home, it will be interesting to see how SportyTrader calls, in the Euro 2021 betting tips, especially as far as this group is concerned.
Italy have Turkey, Switzerland and Wales in their group and it is easy to see why the Italians are billed pre-tournament favorites. They are the only former world champions in the group and all their three group matches will be at the Olympic Stadium, with about 18,000 fans allowed to attend.
Italy are coming from a tough Nations League group, which they won and started their World Cup qualifying campaign on a high, winning each of their three opening Group C matches. They definitely have the strongest squad among the teams in this group and after exiting the 2016 tournament at the quarter finals stage following defeat by Germany on Post match penalties, they will be looking to go further.
The biggest benefit Italy’s new coach Roberto Mancini has brought to the team is that while transitioning, the team hasn’t lost what it is well known for – a sturdy defence. At the same time the team has improved on one area it previously seemed to struggle – attack.
In the last six matches, across all competitions, the Italians have scored at least two goals, while at the same time, keeping clean sheets in each of these matches. They will have two warm up matches before the competition, against San Marino and Czech Republic.
Most bookies will definitely agree with Italy being favorites in the group, which will then raise the question; who joins them as runners up from Wales, Turkey and Switzerland? All very good sides.
Switzerland has for years held a high profile among the top teams in Europe and have been regulars at major tournaments. The past few months however, have marked a decline, with their only win in their Nations League group, awarded as a walkover.
This decline could leave Turkey slightly favored ahead of them in this group, and especially after a good start to the World Cup qualifiers. Wales, the other team in this group, is establishing itself as a major force in European football and could hold the key to how it all pans out in this group.
