Italy – Austria

Italy are complete favorites when they take on Austria in a game from the 1/8-finals of the Euro 2020 on Saturday. As you know well, that’s the time to preview it for you in these free soccer predictions for today. Let’s start!

Based on their performance so far, Italy are among the biggest contenders to win the European Championship this summer. What the Azzurri have done is remarkable – they won all of their three matches in Group A without even conceding a goal. And what’s even more impressive is the fact that they have not conceded a single goal in their last 11 matches. That’s some impressive defending, isn’t it?

With wins against Turkey, Switzerland and Wales, Italy comfortably won the first place in Group A of the Euro 2020. The Azzurri scored seven goals in these three matches, and never lost control of the game in any of them. Against Wales Roberto Mancini even allowed himself to make some rotations and give a rest to some of his key players.

The reason why Italy’s fans were so excited in this game was the return of Marco Verratti – one of the best midfielders in the game today. The PSG star played the whole 90 minutes against the Dragons and even gave the assist for the winning goal scored by Matteo Pessina. The 28-years old missed the first two matches because of injury, but now he’s ready to show why he’s one of Italy’s most important players.

How we said Roberto Mancini made some rotations against Wales in the previous game. Some of the key players were rested while Emerson, Toloi, Bastoni, Pessina, Chiesa and Bernardeschi got the chance to start. Meanwhile Sirigu, Cristante, Castrovilli and Raspadori entered the pitch from the bench, recording some minutes.

What really impress us in the Italian team right now is the balance they have between attack and defense. As you can see the way Italy defends is just phenomenal because 11 consecutive clean sheets is not something you make by chance. At the same time players like Ciro Immobile and Lorenzo Insigne are making this Italian team really dangerous in the attacking phase of the team. So far Mancini prefers to use Domenico Berardi instead of Federico Chiesa and Filippo Bernardeschi, but for sure the Italian manager has many different options for his attack.

The partnership between Jorginho and Marco Verratti in attack is going to be crucial for Italy for the remaining of the competition. These two players know very well how to keep possession of the ball, and also distribute it in the best way possible between defense and attack. What Jorginho and Verratti can also do is make that killer pass to the strikers and put them in good positions to score. The interaction between these two players in the central area of the pitch will be absolutely essential for Italy’s overall performance since now until the end.

With how many goals Ciro Immobile will finish the Euro 2020? That’s a good question. So far the Lazio striker have scored twice for the Azzurri and his goals would be crucial for Italy’s campaign for the title.

With two wins from two matches played in Group C, Austria comfortably finished second in the final standings and reached the European Championship knockout phase for a first time in their history so far. Not many people expected that Das Team could reach the 1/8-finals, but with two wins from three matches they managed to shut up the mouth of their critics.

The key fixture for Austria in Group C was the 1-0 win they managed to record against Ukraine. The only goal in this game was scored in the first half when Christoph Baumgartner sent the ball in the net after an assist from David Alaba. This was Alaba’s second assist in the tournament so far after the one he provided against North Macedonia.

Christoph Baumgartner is surely one of the most interesting figures in this Austrian team. He’s just 21-years old, but already part of the Bundesliga side Hoffenheim. He’s one of the players who usually support the striker alongside Marcel Sabitzer and Konrad Laimer. It was the veteran Marko Arnautovic who started the game against Ukraine upfront. The former West Ham striker was replaced by Sasa Kalajdzic in the dying minutes of the game.

For Austria’s confidence it was really important that they kept a clean sheet against Ukraine. Aleksandar Dragovic and Martin Hinteregger did a good job partnering in the heart of the defense while the captain David Alaba started the game on the left flank of the defense. You can be sure that Alaba will be one of the crucial players for Austria against the Azzurri. The head coach Franco Foda must decide whether to place him as a center-back again or maybe leave him on the left side of the defense. We expect to see him in the heart of the defense because this is where Alaba could be more influential for his team.

If Austria want to be competitive against Italy they must be at their best in the middle of the pitch. This means that players like Xaver Schlager and Florian Grillitsch must be at their very best on Saturday. Surely they are not players from the same quality as Marco Verratti or Jorginho, but they could do a good job with the help of their teammates.

That’s the free soccer predictions for today for the Euro 2020 1/8-finals clash between Italy and Austria at the Wembley Stadium. No need to say, but the Italians are the team to beat here. The Azzurri are perfect since the beginning of the tournament, and so far they are turning to be one of the biggest contenders for the championship trophy. Roberto Mancini’s team is still about to concede a goal this summer which should tell you how hard it will be for Das Team on Saturday. Can Austria really trouble the Azzurri here? It doesn’t sound very likely, but we have seen everything at competitions like this, right?