Slovakia v Italy World Cup betting

It’s possible that the Azzurri will go the same way as France and fail to progress beyond the group stage of the 2010 World Cup. Who would have thought that the two finalists in 2006 would fail to win any of the first five matches between them?

Then again, it wouldn’t come as a huge shock if Italy sprang into life under Marcello Lippi and had another World Cup to remember. After all, the holders gradually got better in Germany four years ago and they retain many of the players who were triumphant back then. You can currently back them at 22/1 (Paddy Power) on the outright market and the Italians will simply be focused on winning this game and making it to the knockout stages where games are likely to be tight.

Ladbrokes offer 4/7 that the Azzurri are successful in Johannesburg and it would help if they stopped conceding sloppy goals. Against Paraguay and New Zealand, the team have found themselves a goal down due to an inability to defend from set pieces. Losing Gianluigi Buffon in goal hasn’t helped, although you can imagine that Lippi has spent a lot of time on the training ground to ensure that the Slovakians aren’t wheeling away in delight after scoring from a free-kick or corner. Sporting Bet offer 5/6 that Fabio Cannavaro and Co keep a clean sheet, while it’s tempting to back them to win to nil at odds of 13/8 (Ladbrokes).

After all, the Slovaks offered little in attack against Paraguay and we should remember that the latter were holding on a little towards their opening match with Italy in Cape Town. Vladimir Weiss probably realises that his team’s best chance of going through would have been to beat New Zealand in the opening game, a result that would put Italy under severe pressure. However, it’s hard to see them obliging with victory, even at odds of 6/1 (Victor Chandler).

They simply didn’t create many chances against south American opposition on Sunday and perhaps the Italian strikeforce will get things right, especially if the manager plays Antonio Di Natale from the start. It’s bordering on a crime that the Udinese hit man has had to make do with substitute appearances and he’s 11/2 (Ladbrokes) to show what the Azzurri have been missing by opening the scoring.

You can expect Vincenzo Iaquinta (6/1 Ladbrokes) to remain on penalty duties, although the impressive Daniele De Rossi also catches the eye on this market at 16/1 (William Hill). The Roma man loves to get forward and has scored seven goals for his country in 47 appearances.