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When Switzerland and Italy square up at the Olympiastadion on Saturday night, a spot in the EURO 2024 quarterfinals will be up for grabs.
The Rossocrociati were giving outstanding performances in the group stages, defeating Hungary and splitting the points with Scotland and Germany.
They are undoubtedly capable of taking a big victory in the round of 16. Mainz's defender Silvan Widmer has a one-game suspension, but the home club has no new injury concerns.
Despite Mattia Zaccagni's late goal against Croatia securing their place in the knockout stages, the Azzurri will face significant challenges against Granit Xhaka and his team.
Switzerland is more of a team than Italy, and we think the nominal hosts will advance to the quarterfinals of the European Championship.
Gianluca Mancini is likely to start in place of Bologna defender Riccardo Calafiori, who faces a ban for the away game.
Team news: Switzerland vs. Italy
With a one-match ban, Mainz defender Silvan Widmer, who picked up a costly late booking against Germany last weekend, will not play on Saturday night.
Having made his summer debut in Frankfurt last week, Monaco marksman Breel Embolo ought to continue leading Switzerland's charge.
Former Arsenal midfielder Granit Xhaka will captain Yakin's team and win his 129th international cap here after playing a pivotal role in Bayer Leverkusen's historic Bundesliga triumph last season.
Newcastle's Fabian Schar will once again partner Manchester City defender Manuel Akanji at the back.
Riccardo Calafiori, the Bologna defender who received a late red card in Leipzig on Monday night, will not play today due to a one-match ban.
Though Mattia Zaccagni of Lazio may have come off the bench and scored that famous last-gasp equalizer against Croatia earlier in the week, the 29-year-old will probably have to make do with another berth among Spalletti's substitutes.
Gianluca Scamacca, the Atalanta forward who was dropped against the Blazers earlier in the week and hasn't opened his EURO 24 account this summer, will be looking for an instant recall. Federico Chiesa of Juventus could also start and replace Giacomo Raspadori.
Head-to-Head and Previous Matches
Starting with Switzerland, the Rossocrociati should be feeling really well in their camp, even though Murat Yakin's side may have lost in the last minute to host nation Germany in their last Group A match last weekend.
This summer, the former Basel manager has seen his team win a lot of accolades after starting their EURO 24 trip with an impressive 3-1 victory against Hungary on June 15.
With five points from their three Group A games over the last two weeks, the Swiss have now lost just one of their previous 17 games in all competitions.
Equally, Switzerland has only lost one of their last six meetings against the reigning European champions, despite being considered a genuine underdog when they go to Berlin this weekend.
Regarding Italy, the Azzurri will be anxious to use that dramatic late flurry as a platform to build on after rescuing what was a memorable last-gasp draw against Croatia on Monday night, as they avoided what would have been an embarrassing EURO 24 disaster.
Though they eventually limped to a second-place finish in Group B behind fellow European powerhouse Spain, the former Napoli manager is still waiting for his team to go into top gear.
Although Italy won 1-0 against Bosnia and Herzegovina to cap off their pre-tournament preparations, they still need to regain some recent fluency in the last third.
The Blues have not scored more than one goal in any of their last five games.
Our Predictions
Over 1.5 goals @
While the bookies may have the reigning European champions as the clear favorite going into their Round of 16 match, a hotly-tipped Switzerland is hoping to pull off a historic upset in Berlin.
The Swiss remained unbeaten in their three Group A games, even if they may have experienced last-gasp heartbreak when they finally had to settle for a 1-1 draw against the host country, Germany.
We might be in for an exciting match here because none of Saturday's opponents have kept a clean sheet this summer.
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