Italy vs Switzerland
Italy vs Switzerland takes place in Rome on June 16 as Group A of Euro2020 starts to heat up. Roberto Mancini’s Italy side got the European Championships off to an explosive start, smashing Turkey 3-0 in a convincing win while Switzerland were denied victory in Baku against Wales thanks to the brilliance of Welsh keeper Danny Ward and VAR chalking off Mario Gavranovic’s effort for offside. Read on for our analysis, match predictions and betting tips.
Form
Italy shrugged off pre-tournament tags as slow starters with a hugely impressive victory against Turkey in front of their home fans and will want to wrap up group qualification quickly here with another win against Switzerland. While much was made of Ciro Immobile, who scored Italy’s second goal against Turkey, Roma left-back Leonardo Spinazzola and Napoli forward Lorenzo Insigne were instrumental in everything that was good for the Azzurri.
Switzerland probably should have beaten Wales, but they will be happy with the form of Borussia Moenchengladbach forward Breel Embolo. The pace of Embolo threatened Wales on many occasions and he will feel that against an older Italian defence he could cause trouble. Liverpool misfit Xherdan Shaqiri looked dangerous in his role behind the front two and it will be interesting to see if Swiss coach Vladimir Petkovic is as bold in his team selection for this game.
Injuries
Italy lost midfielder Lorenzo Pellegrini to a muscle injury not long before their opening game with Turkey, with UEFA allowing them to replace the Roma player with Fiorentina midfielder Gaetano Castrovilli. This was the second midfield replacement Italy had to make to their squad having lost Internazionale midfielder Stefano Sensi to injury prior to the tournament; he was replaced by Atalanta’s Matteo Pessina. PSG midfielder Marco Verratti missed the opening game with a knee injury and could be a doubt for this one.
Switzerland came through their opening game unscathed by injury and the only question will be if coach Vladmir Petkovic goes with the same tactical setup for this match. While Petkovic has gone with a 3-4-1-2 for games which Switzerland might start as favourites, against Spain last year he went for a more defensive 5-3-2 and it’s possible he might do the same again here. With Embolo looking bright and the Italian defence advanced in years, it might well be Shaqiri who misses out.
Match Prediction
It’s not hard to understand why Italy are hot favourites to win this game having seen their opening demolition of Turkey. Once more they have home advantage and even with a slew of midfield injuries the Azzurri look in irresistible form currently. The smarter markets to look for betting tips in might be goals and BTTS. Italy have a good record of clean sheets going back to last October - are Switzerland the team to break that run?
