Italy vs Albania Predictions & Match Preview

Italy vs Albania Prediction

Reigning champions Italy being their title-defence quest on Saturday evening. They take on Group B underdogs Albania at BVB Borussia Stadium in Dortmund. The Azzurri can ill afford a slip-up on the opening day with the fixtures against Croatia and Spain upcoming. Can they justify the favourites’ tag against the Albanians?

• Italy won three and drew one of the last four exhibitions.
• Italy won all of the previous four clashes against the Red and Blacks.
• Albania conceded just four goals in eight Euro qualifiers.
• One of Italy’s last five matches saw three or more goals scored.

Italy have been struggling badly for consistency ever since lifting the 2020 Euro trophy.

They failed to qualify for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar and they only secured the second place in their respective qualifying group for Euro after a controversial goalless draw to Ukraine on the final day.

Albania are enjoying some of the best days of the national team’s history. They stunned the continent by claiming the very top of the Euro qualifying group ahead of the likes of Czechia, Poland, Moldova, and Faroe Islands.

The fact they’ve conceded only four goals in eight qualifying outings sounds terrifying.

Italy vs Albania Predicted Lineups and Team News

Luciano Spalletti has surprisingly left out Juventus’ midfielder Manuel Locatelli and Lazio’s legend Ciro Immobile from his 26-man squad.

Although he has tested the back-four system in recent friendlies, we fully expect Spalletti to turn to his trusted back-three formula.

Albania will feature at the Euro without several experienced players such as Odise Roshi, Frederic Veseli, Sokol Cikalleshi, and Armando Sadiku.

Italy (3-4-2-1): Donnarumma – Di Lorenzo, Buongiorno, Bastoni – Cambiaso, Cristante, Jorginho, Dimarco – Frattesi, Chiesa – Scamacca

Albania (4-3-3): Straskosha – Hysaj, Ajeti, Djimsiti, Mitaj – Asllani, Ramadani, Bajrami – Asani, Broja, Seferi

Italy could struggle to break down Albania

Luciano Spalletti has found a way to shift Italy’s fortunes around since taking over Roberto Mancini at the Azzurri helm last year. He led Italy to three wins and a draw in four friendlies this year. The Italians did not shine in their latest test but they still managed a 1-0 victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina on Sunday evening in Empoli.

Albania decided to pick easier rivals in the final two checks ahead of the Euro. They dispatched Liechtenstein and Azerbaijan earlier this month. Nevertheless, wins over these opponents will count for little when they come face to face with the defending champions on the biggest of the stages.

However, Albania have only conceded four goals in eight qualifying games. Italy did not shine offensively in recent exhibitions.

We would not be surprised to see Italy struggling to break the Albanians down in the first half. We certainly do expect Azzurri’s quality to prevail in the second half. You can back draw at the half time and Italy’s win at the end at the odds of 4.00.

A tight affair in Dortmund

The Under 2.5 goals pick is a perfect alternative betting pick for this game at the 1.80 odds. Just one of Italy’s last five outings across competitions provided three or more goals.

Five of Albania’s previous seven matches finished with fewer than three goals scored. Finally, we saw three or more goals just once in the previous four H2H games between these rivals.

Steffen Schmidt- June 12, 2024

Italy vs Albania Betting Tips

HT/FT Draw/Italy

OK

4.00 Odds

Under 2.5 goals

OK

1.87 Odds

Correct Score: Italy 2-0

OK

6.00 Odds