With the situation of falling into the group of death at this year’s EURO, meeting a team considered as the “weakest” in the group like Albania in the first match will be an advantage for Italy to break through. However, with the not really stable form recently, can Azzurri solve the problem or not.
Expert opinions on the Italy vs Albania match
The reigning champion of EURO, the Italian national team comes to the tournament without receiving any high evaluation. Even compared to 3 years ago at EURO 2021 where they also unexpectedly won, the Azzurri squad has significantly decreased in quality in all 3 lines, partly because the key players have declined in form and also due to unnecessary injuries. Italy’s preparations for this year’s major tournament are generally satisfactory in terms of results, but in terms of playing style, there are still many issues, especially in the attacking line. The team led by coach Luciano Spalletti only scored a mere 5 goals in the last 5 matches, including 2 matches where they were held to goalless draws by their opponents. Now, it’s really hard to find a name in Italy’s attack to put trust in. EURO 2021 star Federico Chiesa has been in terrible form, while Raspadori, Scamacca, or Retegui are just average names. Many opinions even suggest that the current form and personnel of the Azzurri may not deserve to be among the top giants.
Italy’s upcoming obstacle, Albania, is considered the weak point of the group of death. However, it’s not certain that the eagles will be easily subdued, especially when looking at their recent form. Coach Sylvinho’s team has topped the qualifying group with both Poland and Czech Republic with a solid and highly scientific playing style. With the recent form factors, the match between Italy and Albania is definitely not easy to predict and the difference is not as people think. On the contrary, the so-called “underdog” like Albania may be determined to take advantage of the reigning champion’s declining form, thereby creating surprises in a group full of variables.
Overview of the historical head-to-head record of Italy and Albania
Albania is a relatively young traditional national team in the old continent, they only participated in EURO for the first time in 2016. Therefore, throughout history, this team has only had the opportunity to face Italy 4 times. In which, the team from the land of pasta won all 4 matches, with the most recent victory being a 3-1 win over Albania in a friendly match in 2022.
Check the odds of the Italy vs Albania match
From EURO 2016 to 2021, the two successful tournaments of Italy, this team has built a playing style based on the foundation of the defensive line. This both takes advantage of the thinking and instinct of the players from the country with a famous defensive art, while minimizing the limitations from the not very high quality of the attacking line. In this EURO 2024, Luciano Spalletti is likely to still operate his machine in that way.
As for Albania, they have more reason to be optimistic than Italy because at least this team has a player in the attacking line to trust, Armando Broja. The forward born in 2001 may not play well at Chelsea, but every time he plays for the national team, he becomes an important nucleus for coach Sylvinho with 5 goals in 11 appearances.In addition, discipline is highly valued in the way eagles play.
- Total goals under: Italy is going through a goal drought without a solution, while Azzurri’s defense is playing extremely well. In the last 4 out of 5 matches of the Italian team, there have been only 2 goals or less, similar to Albania as they failed to score in 3 out of their last 5 matches.
- Italy corner handicap: With the 3-4-3 formation applied by coach Luciano Spalletti for Italy, it is likely that the attacks from the wings will be a familiar strategy for the Italian team. Faced with a predicted deep-lying defense of Albania in the upcoming match, the large number of corners awarded to Italy will be quite promising.
- Select Albania +1/1.5: Before the match, the bookmakers evaluated a relatively high handicap ratio for Italy, up to -1/1.5. However, their weak attack will not easily penetrate the Albanian defense if the “eagles” actively play with a 2-layer defense.
Italy vs Albania Squad Information
Both teams have full squad strength.
Italy vs Albania Expected Lineup
- Italy (3-4-3): Donnarumma, Mancini, Bastoni, Di Lorenzo, Bellanova, Jorginho, Barella, Dimarco, Chiesa, Raspadori, Scamacca.
- Albania (4-5-1): Berisha, Ajeti, Djimsiti, Hysaj, Mitaj, Asllani, Ramadani, Asani, Bajrami, Seferi, Broja.
Match score prediction: Italy 1-0 Albania
