England vs. Italy Predictions

England won Group D and didn’t lose during group stage, but they didn’t perform that well either. English supporters have to be thrilled that their team qualified without Rooney playing in the 1st two matches, but they have to be worried about their form. In my opinion England was very lucky in their matches and the Italians who finished runner-up in Group C could win this match.

England Tournament Recap (2-1-0)

England opened Euro 2012 with a 1-1 draw against the French and then they won their next two matches. England beat Sweden in a high scoring match (3-2) and in their final match they got lucky to win 1-0 against Ukraine on a Rooney header. Rooney has only played in 1 match so far at Euro 2012 and he has 1 goal in that match. Rooney should be a threat to score against Italy.

Italy Tournament Recap (1-2-0)

The Italians only won once during group stage, which was against Ireland in Italy’s last match (2-0). The 1st two matches for the Italians during group stage ended in 1-1 draws against Spain and Croatia. Picking up a 2-0 win over Ireland was good for Italy and even better was the fact that Cassano plus Balotelli were able to both net their 1st goals of Euro 2012.

England vs. Italy Match Odds

England: 2.90 Best Odds at BetVictor
Italy: 2.90 Best Odds at BetVictor
Draw: 3.10 Best Odds at Paddy Power

England vs. Italy Betting Tips

England vs. Italy Draw at 3.10 (Paddy Power)

This is an extremely tough match to try and predict in the 1×2 market in my opinion. These two teams last played each other in a friendly match back in 2002 (In Leeds) and the Italians won 2-1. Italy holds an impressive record of 6-2-1 in their L9 matches with the English and the Italians are always tough in big matches because they know how to sit back and play defence.

Italy has played a total of 10 QF matches in the European Championships and World Cup. In those 10 matches Italy conceded 4 goals only and they didn’t allow a single team to score more than 1 goal. Italy made it to the Euro 2008 QF’s and they lost that match to Spain on penalty kicks. The last time England made the Euro QF’s (2004) they were eliminated by penalties as well.

England vs. Italy Best Bets

I think this match is going to be very tight and while Italy is known for playing low scoring matches I’m going to bet on there being exactly 2-3 goals in this match at 2.25 odds (888Sport). If one of these teams can open up the scoring early it will force the other team to go for broke and that should mean the match will open up much more than expected.

Make sure you bet at Bet365 for this match. Place a pre-match singles bet at Bet365 for £50 and then once the match starts you need to place an in-play bet for another £50. If the in-play bet loses Bet365 will refund the entire bet (£50 Max). You can back the draw right now at Bet365 at 3.00, which is close to the best odds. Once the match goes in-play we recommend backing Balotelli to score anytime at 3.75, as he’s had plenty of chances and finally scored in the Italians last match.