Kick-off: 2000, 26/06/2021
Stadium: Wembley
TV: BBC One
Italy will be all the rage to brush aside Austria in the first knockout round at Euro 2020 after being ultra-impressive during the group stage.
The Azzurri picked up maximum points and have now claimed 11 consecutive victories without conceding a single goal.
Das Team are game but look set to be outgunned at Wembley, so 6/5 for Roberto Mancini’s men to win to nil again is our first Italy vs Austria prediction.
A Look At Italy’s Betting Odds
Italy went into this tournament rated as dark horses to lift the trophy and have since been promoted to the genuine contenders category.
They powered to 3-0 triumphs over Turkey and Switzerland before edging out Wales 1-0 with a much-changed line-up.
Matteo Pessina’s 39th-minute flick broke the deadlock and Federico Bernardeschi hit the post with a free-kick before Ethan Ampadu saw red early in the second half.
Danny Ward made several solid saves to keep the score down, while Gareth Bale blazed a volley over the bar to provide a late wake-up call.
Mancini said: “We made eight changes but the team played very well and deserved to score more goals.
“But it wasn’t easy to score after it went to 11 against 10 because they just sat deep and defended. It wasn’t easy for us to find space.
“It’s nice for us to go to Wembley, it’s a wonderful arena, but this is the start of a whole new competition and of course we’ll need to play very well to go all the way.”
Ciro Immobile was one of those rested against Wales after netting in the opening two games and he will be raring to go again here.
The Lazio striker is a worthy favourite at 3/1 to score first in the Italy vs Austria odds.
A Look At Austria’s Betting Odds
Austria advanced as runners-up behind Netherlands in their pool, beating North Macedonia 3-1 and Ukraine 1-0 either side of a 2-0 loss to the Dutch.
Christoph Baumgartner poked in a 21st-minute corner for the decisive strike versus Ukraine, with Das Team securing a deserved success.
Marko Arnautovic should have finished off a fine breakaway but Franco Foda’s side held firm at the back to make that miss irrelevant.
After Austria reached the European Championship knockout stages for the first time, Foda said: “We wanted to write history, this was our objective.
“We wanted to make it into the knockout stage, we made it – historical win and just congratulations to my team.
“I’m very proud of them, the way they performed today. From the first minute on, you could see they wanted to win this match.
“The only thing is we could have been more clinical, we could have scored the second or the third.”
It may now be a feeling of job done, though, as not too much was expected of Das Team following a 4-0 World Cup loss to Denmark at the end of March.
Italy’s high-tempo tactics, slick passing and movement up front look set to prove too hot to handle.
Let’s go with 23/4 for the Azzurri to prevail 2-0 to finish off our Italy vs Austria betting tips.
Additional stats
Last result:
ITALY 1-0 Wales – Pessina
Ukraine 0-1 AUSTRIA – Baumgartner
Head-to-head: Italy 2-2 Austria, Italy 2-1 Austria, Italy 1-0 Austria, Italy 1-0 Austria
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