Italy vs Austria: The Italians’ warm-up before a tough match

Italy and Austria will clash in the Euro 2020 Round of 16. Who will be stronger? Let’s analyze the teams’ form and recommend the best bets. 

Italy are showing something simply crazy. The team has won 11 straight without conceding a goal. The Squadra Azzurra sweep everything in their path.

Roberto Mancini’s charges opened the Euro 2020 tournament with a match against Turkey. That victory was easy, 3-0, and zero shots on Gianluigi Donnarumma’s goal in the entire game. The Italians then took on Switzerland, who had been predicted to challenge Roberto Mancini’s side for first place in the group. However, they didn’t care and so they crushed the opposition with the same scoreline (3-0). The icing on the cake was an unnecessary victory over Wales in the last round of the group stage when the Italians had a play-off place in their hands. But even with the second team, Italy managed to beat the Welsh, albeit by a score of 1-0.

No one is expecting sensations from Austria. Except for the Austrians themselves. They are certainly a solid side, with a wealth of quality players (mainly from the Bundesliga), but they are unlikely to progress beyond the last 16 as there are bigger contenders.

Franco Foda’s side started the European Championship with a 3-1 win over Northern Macedonia. The scoreline was 1-1 up to 78 minutes before the Austrians broke through the Macedonian defence to score two goals. Then came the inevitable 2-0 defeat for the Netherlands, before Austria sealed their group stage with a 1-0 win against Ukraine. It is also worth mentioning that the Ukrainians showed sluggish football and did not look like themselves, so the victory is not worth celebrating. In any case, the Austrians made the play-offs from second place and secured two wins in a fairly strong group.

It is hard to believe that the Austrians will be able to offer any resistance to the Italians. It’s already clear that the Azzurri came to this tournament with one goal in mind, to win. If anyone can prevent them from doing so, it will certainly not be Austria. After a likely win in this game, Italy will be waiting for the winner of the Belgium vs Portugal match, and that will be a real showdown. In the meantime, we will play an excellent opponent, just for the test practice before the quarterfinals. The odds are pretty high for a confident Italian win and it would be a shame not to take advantage of it. That’s why our main bet is Italy winning with a handicap (-1) for 1.83.

We also advise taking a closer look at Belgium to win to nil bet. At the moment they have 11 victories, the Italians do not concede more than 1000 minutes! In modern football, such figures are simply fantastic, they are unbelievable. You can bet on Italy to win to nil for 2.09.

In conclusion, I would like to mention Italy’s forward and perhaps its main striking force, Ciro Immobile. At the moment Ciro is on top of his form, and this tournament may become the main one in his life. After all, he is 31 and we do not know what will happen to him at the 2022 World Cup. The Italian was a top-five scorer at Serie A last season with 20 goals, and he has two appearances for UEFA EURO 2020 (Roberto Mancini’s game against Wales saw Andrea Belotti make an impact). Ciro did not let him down and scored in both games. There’s no doubt about Immobile’s commitment to the game, so a bet on his goal for 2.87 looks like an excellent option.