Italy - Spain
Italy to qualify
2.75
1 unit
Spain showed their class against turkey, and played a good match against Czech where they created a lot but missed some luck in front of goals. In matches against these underdogs where they have a lot of possession they are still very dominant. Against croatia they showed their weakness. Croatia played great and deserved that win. Spain looked weak in the back and unorganized at times. Also they don't score goals as easily as they used to last tournaments. This showed against czech but also against georgia the last friendly match before this tournament. In the qualifiers they also weren't as efficient as earlier years.
Italy showed that with conte they have a brilliant tactician and the italian squad follows up his orders perfectly. Against belgium they played so well organized and never really looked like conceding a goal. I'm not sure if it was weakness by belgium or just a very strong italy but belgium looked like hitting a brick wall for the entire match. Sweden same story, organized defense by italy. Spain will have a tough time to crack this nut. Spain also gives a lot of space away in the back. Italy is the perfect counter team that does not want/need posession. Right from the kick-off they will fight for the clean sheet. Italy always gets a chance in every match. Spain's defense usually gives a couple of chances away especially with sergio ramos. If there is one team spain did not want to play against it's Italy.
Spain is still favorite, but these odds are to high for me to ignore. I think that italy will score a goal, any way they don't concede easily, looking at a potential deadlock 0-0 with penalties where 2.75 is a gift of the gods.
Italy to qualify
2.75
1 unit
Spain showed their class against turkey, and played a good match against Czech where they created a lot but missed some luck in front of goals. In matches against these underdogs where they have a lot of possession they are still very dominant. Against croatia they showed their weakness. Croatia played great and deserved that win. Spain looked weak in the back and unorganized at times. Also they don't score goals as easily as they used to last tournaments. This showed against czech but also against georgia the last friendly match before this tournament. In the qualifiers they also weren't as efficient as earlier years.
Italy showed that with conte they have a brilliant tactician and the italian squad follows up his orders perfectly. Against belgium they played so well organized and never really looked like conceding a goal. I'm not sure if it was weakness by belgium or just a very strong italy but belgium looked like hitting a brick wall for the entire match. Sweden same story, organized defense by italy. Spain will have a tough time to crack this nut. Spain also gives a lot of space away in the back. Italy is the perfect counter team that does not want/need posession. Right from the kick-off they will fight for the clean sheet. Italy always gets a chance in every match. Spain's defense usually gives a couple of chances away especially with sergio ramos. If there is one team spain did not want to play against it's Italy.
Spain is still favorite, but these odds are to high for me to ignore. I think that italy will score a goal, any way they don't concede easily, looking at a potential deadlock 0-0 with penalties where 2.75 is a gift of the gods.
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