ITALY v SPAIN
Monday 27th June 2016 – Kickoff: 1800hrs
Football – Europe – Euro 2016 Betting Tips
Italy received a wake-up call in their final group game against Republic of Ireland when they suffered a shock 1-0 defeat at the hands of the plucky Irish. However, some would say that it didn’t matter anyway as the Italians had already qualified from Group E where they finished top of the group ahead of Belgium.
While this still remains to be seen, Italy now enter the last 16 with a tough game against Spain in prospect, but Italy are renowned for their gritty ability to dig out results in major tournaments on the back of a very solid defensive unit.
Indeed, that goal conceded against Republic of Ireland was their first in the group stages as they’d previously recorded wins over Belgium 2-0 and Sweden 1-0, and they’d kept four clean sheets in the four matches prior to the Irish defeat.
Spain were also dealt an unexpected loss against Croatia in a 2-1 defeat in their last Group D game as they finished runners-up to surprise group winners Croatia as a result of that defeat. So, Spain are also coming into the knock-out stages on the back of a defeat.
Spain had previously beaten Czech Republic 1-0 and Turkey 3-0 in their first two matches of Euro 2016 and the reigning European champions looked like they had recovered from their World Cup debacle.
But there are no guarantees where Spain are concerned (as the Croatia defeat emphasises), and this match-up will really test their champion mettle as they come up against one of the best teams in international football in terms of durability and overall ‘street-smarts’.
I’ll back Italy to make life hard for the Spanish in the opening 90 minutes.
Pick: Italy AH+0.5 @ 1.80 bet365
