The second match in the knockout stage at Euro 2020 comes from Wembley Stadium on Saturday evening when Group A winners Italy go up against the runners up from Group C in Austria for a place in the quarter finals of the competition.
Italy have looked assured and potential title contenders so far in this tournament and it will be interesting to see if they continue that now the business end of the campaign begins. Austria haven’t looked as good but won two of their group matches so are here on merit.
Where to watch
This match will also be televised on BBC1 for us in the UK with the build-up getting underway after the fall out from the first game is done at around 7.30pm. It is an 8pm kick off in London.
Italy
If you gave Roberto Mancini the licence to choose a perfect group stage then it would probably have consisted of three wins, all without conceding, and having qualification secured early enough that he could make a number of changes in the final game to ensure as many members of his squad could be a part of the action as is possible. That is exactly how the first stage of the tournament played out for Italy, who looked fantastic if that counts for anything now.
You would still argue that they lack a true centre forward threat that would make them a truly terrifying prospect for the bigger nations but Gianluigi Donnarumma has been largely untroubled in the Italian goal and the midfield, the strength of this side, have not disappointed at any stage in the competition. There might be a concern about how Italy go if they fall behind but it has been so long since that happened that it almost feels pointless even considering it.
Austria
I was pretty down on the chances of Austria ahead of this tournament. They didn’t look very good at all in the lead up to the competition and in truth they weren’t a whole lot better in their opening two matches either, albeit they won their first one against a North Macedonia side who offered a lot at the tournament but lacked the class to compete at this level. They came alive in their final group match against Ukraine however and there was enough in that performance to suggest they might not just be making up the numbers from here on in.
There are a couple of top class players in this Austria line-up and if they can get to see plenty of the ball then they can ask the Italians questions in this match but the one thing you would think they would have to be a lot more clinical than they were against Ukraine. Chances came and went regularly in that match but that isn’t likely to be the case here so they will need to make full use of any offerings that do come their way.
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Team News
Italy are expected to be without their captain Giorgio Chiellini whose muscle problem hasn’t been fixed in time. Francesco Acerbi is expected to be his replacement in an Italian side which will be back to the strength of the one which played their first group matches.
Austria are hopeful that Martin Hinteregger and Florian Grillitsch will be back for this match but former Newcastle player Valentin Lazaro is expected to miss out. Christoph Baumgartner is said to be available despite the clash of heads he suffered in the Ukraine match.
Betting
Italy leave their home surroundings for the first time in this tournament but I don’t expect that to be a massive factor here. The Stadio Olimpico wasn’t exactly full for the group matches so although they will have got some support it wasn’t exactly colosseum levels. This doesn’t feel like an Italy team that are going to stop playing well just because they are away from home so Austria have their work cut out for me in this one.
Austria offered up enough in that last game against Ukraine to suggest that we might be in for a hairy ride if we back Italy to win to nil even though that is generally the outcome when the Italians win a match. I don’t see them ploughing their way past Austria in a knockout match which is likely to be edgy in the early stages so I think Italy to win and under 3.5 goals is a better way to play the game as that gives us some wiggle room if Austria find the net.
Tips
Back Italy to win and under 3.5 goals for a 3/10 stake at 2.00 with Boylesports
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