14 years after it opened its doors for the first time, the new Wembley Stadium plays host to the biggest game in its existence on Sunday evening when Italy take on England in the final of the delayed Euro 2020 competition.
It doesn’t always work out that the best two sides meet in the final but that is very much the case here and if they both bring the form they have shown so far in the tournament we should be in for a cracking final.
Where to watch
If you are in the UK you have a choice of channel for this showpiece final. The match will be shown on BBC1 with the build-up beginning at 6.20pm while it can also be watched on ITV1 with their programme starting at 6.30pm. It is an 8pm kick off in London.
Italy
The Italians played in the first match of this tournament and they will play in the last one as well. They have been a breath of fresh air throughout the competition, with their passion and commitment matching their ability. They have had to go through extra time twice in the knockout stage which might be an issue for an aging side, but by and large they have been on top in their matches which bodes well for them.
The one thing we can’t say is that Italy don’t deserve to be in this final. They have seen off the world number one ranked side Belgium in the quarter final and a talented Spain side in the semi-final so they are very deserving of their spot in this title showdown. While the Italian defence has been its stubborn self their attack has been dynamic and it is easy to see how this lot are now on a 33 match unbeaten run.
England
After a run to the semi-final of the World Cup in Russia three years ago, the next progression for England was to back that up here and better it with home advantage in all but one of their matches. That is exactly what they have done so far and while they haven’t been quite as attractive on the eye as the Italian side, they have only been behind for nine minutes in the entire tournament and have got better the longer it has gone on.
This will be their acid test for a couple of reasons. Italy are the toughest team England will have faced on paper and the Italians have a lot more international final experience than this England side. That is countered by the home advantage which England will have. The real positive for England though is the amount of options they have in their squad. That means they have real quality on the bench which if this final is tight could be the decisive factor.
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Team News
We knew already that Italy would be without Leonardo Spinazzola for this final after the injury he picked up in the quarter final. That might mean that Azzurri boss Roberto Mancini selects the same side he picked for the semi-final.
England manager Gareth Southgate has suggested that Phil Foden is a doubt for this match although he was likely to name the same XI that beat Denmark in the last four anyway, unless he wants the better attacking skillset of Jadon Sancho over Bakayo Saka.
Betting
This is as close to a 50:50 final as I can remember in recent times. I suspect it will be tight to begin with and then come to life after the break when both sides have settled into it but I thought that about the last two Italian matches and completely the opposite happened. I certainly think England have the quality to get at Italy in this match but whether they can keep them out at the other end is a different thing. I sense the first goal in this game will be pivotal so I don’t really want a proper bet on the match.
I will have one for an added bit of interest though because I can’t ignore the 10/3 quotes on Raheem Sterling to score anytime. We know Italy struggle with pace and movement. We just saw that against Spain in the previous match and Jeremy Doku was causing all kinds of problems in the quarter final against Belgium. Sterling is better than him and is in the form of his life. He has three goals in the tournament so far and would have scored in the semi-final had Simon Kjaer not beaten him to the punch. If England do win this match I would be surprised if Sterling hasn’t got his name on the scoresheet at a nice and tasty price against an aging defence.
Tips
Back R.Sterling to score anytime for a 2/10 stake at 4.33 with Coral
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