Kick-off: 2000, 11/06/2021
Stadium: Olimpico
TV: BBC One
Resurgent Italy are firm favourites to get Euro 2020 under way with a Group A victory over Turkey at Stadio Olimpico in Rome.
The Crescent Stars have made it to four previous finals and started out with a defeat on each occasion, including a 2-1 loss to their opponents in this match in 2000.
Roberto Mancini has restored the Azzurri’s winning mentality and 8/5 they prevail with over 2.5 goals in the game is our first Turkey vs Italy prediction.
A Look At Turkey’s Betting Odds
Turkey will take heart from a strong qualifying campaign, losing just once in 10 games as they finished runners-up to France.
Their results against Les Bleus were especially encouraging, with a 2-0 home win in Konya followed by a 1-1 draw in Paris.
The Crescent Stars also made a superb start to their World Cup pool earlier this year, beating Holland 4-2 and then winning 3-0 in Norway.
A 3-3 draw with Latvia in Istanbul was far less convincing but at least continued their impressive scoring spree.
That was also the theme late on last year, with Russia beaten 3-2 in the Nations League after a couple of 3-3 friendly draws with Germany and Croatia.
Veteran striker Burak Yilmaz is coming off a fine campaign with Lille, but it is a shame to see former Everton forward Cenk Tosun miss out.
AC Milan’s Hakan Calhanoglu and Cengiz Under of Leicester get forward from midfield to bolster the attacking threat, though.
Yilmaz and Under netted in a 2-0 warm-up win over Moldova which made it six games without defeat this year.
Looking at the Turkey vs Italy odds, we like 16/5 for the Azzurri to oblige and both teams to score.
A Look At Italy’s Betting Odds
Four-time World Cup winners Italy have embarked on a rebuilding process since suffering the embarrassment of failing to reach Russia 2018.
Former Inter Milan and Manchester City head coach Mancini has proved an ideal man for the job, bringing a meticulous approach back to the national team.
Finland, Greece and Bosnia and Herzegovina were their main rivals in a relatively moderate qualifying pool but a perfect record of 10 wins is still noteworthy.
Only Belgium topped the 37 goals scored during that campaign, a stat made all the more impressive by the fact those strikes were shared around.
Andrea Belotti led the way with four while a quartet of other players netted three times and six more bagged a brace.
Lazio sharp-shooter Ciro Immobile and Lorenzo Insigne of Napoli stand out in that department on club form, though.
They both scored in a superb 4-0 friendly win over Czech Republic which completed Italy’s preparations.
Curtain raisers at major tournaments can often be cagey early on, however, so 13/5 for Draw HT/Italy FT is worth adding to our Turkey vs Italy betting tips.
Additional stats
Head-to-head: Italy 1-1 Turkey, Italy 1-1 Turkey, Turkey 1-2 Italy, Italy 3-1 Turkey, Turkey 1-2 Italy
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