Euro 2024: Italy x Albania, Match Preview, Odds and Predictions(15/06/2024)

There would not have been many better matches for Italy, the current European Champions, to begin their Euro 2024 campaign than against Albania.

Drawn into a complex Group B with Spain and Croatia, Italy will see this match as an opportunity to score important points. Just its second European Championships, Albania placed third in Group A in 2016. Though it could be a banana skin, we think Italy will win this match comfortably and have a significant edge in qualifying from Group B.

Italy x Albania Team News

Unquestionably, Luciano Spalletti has a lot of quality at his disposal. Still, a dismal qualifying run and their inability to make the 2022 World Cup have raised doubts about their capacity to succeed on the most significant platform. In international football, four years seems like a long time, and since Italy was celebrating at Wembley in 2020, it looks like an even longer time.

Gianluigi Donnarumma's ability to play between the sticks might be crucial to Italy's success, and they have a respectable, if not exceptional, defensive backline. With players like Nicolo Barella and Jorginho, Gli Azzurri has enough midfield solidity, but it's debatable whether they have the players to break down the opposing defense. Federico Chiesa and Gianluca Scamacca will have to step up to solve the issue of the absence of a proper top-level striker, which worries the current European Champions.

How Italy does in its first game may determine its success at Euro 2024. A straightforward victory may give them the foundation and energy they need to beat Croatia and Spain, but anything else might ruin their campaign before it even gets underway.

Despite the lack of well-known players on the Albanian team, their performance in the qualifying round was remarkable.

Although Nedim Bajrami and Jasir Asani each scored three goals in their qualification campaign, their eight games saw seven other players score goals, making it a genuine team effort to qualify for their second-ever European Championships. The striker, who has played for Southampton, Chelsea, and Fulham over the last three years, is best known to English football fans as Armando Broja, and his high-level expertise might be priceless.

The fact that Albania only allowed four goals in their eight qualifying campaigns is perhaps the most remarkable, and the other teams in Group B may find themselves frustrated by that strong defense, which Lazio defender Elseid Hysaj spearheads.

Head To Head And Previous Matches

Three years ago at Wembley, Italy won the European Championship, but since then, the reigning champions have had a rollercoaster ride. The Azzurri only barely made it through the qualifications, ending equal on points with Ukraine and a distant second behind England, and they lost out on qualifying for the World Cup in Qatar after losing to North Macedonia in the play-off.

After Roberto Mancini left, Luciano Spalletti took charge and was entrusted with leading this club to become just the second team in tournament history to win the championship again.

With Spain, Croatia, and Albania in their formidable group, they start their assault against the Red and Blacks.

Having failed to advance out of the group in 2016, Albania made it to the tournament finals for the first time after topping their qualifying group ahead of Poland and the Czech Republic.

Under his direction, former Arsenal defender Sylvinho has made this side very difficult to defeat. Though many of those losses were against weaker opponents than the one they are up against tonight, they have only lost two of their past twelve games.

They did qualify without their two most excellent offensive options; Chelsea's Armando Broja returns from injury and is expected to lead the line. Rey Manaj was recently reintegrated into the team after scoring 18 goals in the Turkish top tier the previous season.

Our Predictions

Under 2.5 goals @ 1.78 on Sky247.ng

Italy has failed to find the correct offensive dynamic in their previous five games, with Spalletti experimenting with various front-line alternatives. Four of those games have finished under 2.5 goals.

This game could become tense due to a formidable Albanian defense; it is anticipated that fewer than 2.5 goals will be tallied. Three of their four meetings over the last ten years have ended under 2.5 goals.

Correct score bettors should support a 1-1 draw as the Balkan team, who have won their past seven competitive games, might cause a little upset.

Davide Frattesi can score anytime @3.75 on Sky247.ng

Davide Frattesi of Inter has been a prominent player for Italy lately. He scored the most goals in qualifying and the solitary goal in their most recent warm-up game victory against Bosnia and Herzegovina. Look for him to score once more here.

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