With a 2-1 win over Belgium under their belts at the EURO 2020 quarterfinals, Italy have now gone 32 matches without a loss, but they face another difficult challenge in the semifinal against Spain.
Bookmaker 1xBit has the odds at 2.08 for Spain to advance into the final and at 1.73 for Italy to get through. The odds are at 2.488 for Italy to win in 90 minutes and at 3.12 for Spain to become the first team to beat the Azzurri since 2018.
※ Current Odds Date & Time: July 5th, 8:30 A.M. (EST)
Spain are on a nice run of their own ahead of the contest with only one loss suffered in their last 29 outings. The team had a rough start at the Euros and couldn’t get the job done in normal time in either of the last two rounds, but they look very dangerous on the pitch.
Luis Enrique’s men have registered the most shots on target at the tournament (39) and they could’ve made their life a lot easier with better finishing. However, a run of 11 goals scored in three games shows that things are clicking pretty well for them.
The team has done a great job in sharing the goals around, which should fill them with confidence as they will know that they can get a winner from anybody on the pitch. Even with one of their danger men missing from action.
Pablo Sarabia worked his way into the starting lineup at the end of the group stage and he had three outstanding displays with two goals and two assists, but the PSG man was forced off with a muscle injury in the quarterfinals against Switzerland. With not much time to recover, it looks like he’s done for the rest of the tournament.
Italy suffered their own injury blow against Belgium when left-back Leonardo Spinazzola ruptured his left Achilles. He’s been one of the stars of the competition so far and it will be tough to go on without him, but it’s possible that his absence will inspire the team just like it happened with Denmark when they knew that Christian Eriksen wouldn’t be able to help them anymore.
Roberto Mancini is a very experienced manager and he should be able to put together a well-working gameplan even with Spinazzola out.
Tactically, Italy have been top class throughout the tournament and Spain’s sizzling offense will run into a team that has allowed only eight shots on target in five games.
The teams are evenly matched and it’s been so since the very beginning. Both have won 11 of their previous 37 clashes. Three of the last five head-to-head meetings at major tournaments have ended in draws so we could be in for a long and fascinating night.
