Wembley Stadium is set for a special night on Sunday as England and Italy meet in the 16th UEFA European Championship final. Can the Three Lions win their first major trophy in 55 years or is it Italy’s time to shine?
Bookmaker 1xBit has the odds at 1.73 for England to lift the Henri Delaunay Cup and at 2.00 for Italy to triumph. The odds are at 2.67 for England to win at full time and at 3.075 for Italy to notch a victory in 90 minutes.
※ Current Odds Date & Time: July 10th, 9:00 A.M. (EST)
England boasts a great Wembley record with 15 wins from their last 17 matches, but they have never won a head-to-head meeting against Italy at major tournaments. The Italians have recorded three wins and one draw in the matchup.
The overall numbers across 27 previous meetings are pretty even with Italy winning 10 times and England managing eight victories, but the Azzurri have lost just twice across the last 14 encounters in all competitions.
Improving the numbers will take a big effort from England as Robert Mancini’s team hasn’t lost a single outing since 2018. They are unbeaten in 33 matches and need to add just two more games to the streak to tie the world record.
England head into the clash on a 12-match unbeaten run. The streak includes 10 clean sheets with half of them coming during the Euros.
Gareth Southgate drew a lot of criticism early in the tournament for his side’s unattractive style of play, but it’s been effective and England’s performances have been much better during the knockout stages.
The England manager has improved his team with a couple of big decisions leaving the likes of Marcus Rashford and Jack Grealish on the bench while promoting Bukayo Saka into the starting lineup.
The Arsenal youngster seems to play with infectious enthusiasm and energy, which has lifted the whole team. His movement is opening up space for other attacking players and it’s a big reason why England have started to score goals in the knockout stages after finding the net just twice during the group games.
Mancini has to find a way to track Saka closely and Italy also needs a proper game plan to deal with Declan Rice and Kalvin Phillips who both have impressed throughout the tournament by running the show from midfield.
