England v Italy World Cup 2014, 14th June Betting Preview
The big kick off that England fans have been waiting so long for. It is an all European clash between these heavyweights to kick off Group D, but Roy Hodgson’s men are going to have to overcome the odds here. Avoiding defeat is the order of the day, but win would offer the victor some control over the group. Can the Three Lions grab maximum points in Manaus?
England v Italy Betting Tips
This has the makings of being a great game and hopefully the occasion and the importance of not losing the opener doesn’t stifle it. England of course are now about youth and adventure and they finally look as if they have the goods up front to bag themselves a few goals. Daniel Sturridge is trading at 2/1 in the anytime goalscorer market for England, and despite the Liverpool man missing three great chances in their final warm up match against Honduras, hopefully that will have shaken him up and honed his eye. He is still better looking value than Wayne Rooney at 7/4.
England need to be sharp in front of goal and not waste chances. They have failed to find the back of the net in their last three competitive games against Italy. The last of those was that dull performance which they put in against the Italians at Euro 2012 when they were outplayed for 120 minutes, created nothing and lost on a penalty shoot out. There has been enough changes in the England ranks since then, that they should at least get themselves in the game. They are going to have to do it at pace most likely, because the Italians aren’t a quick side and that is where the Azzurri could be exploited. England have pace in spades.
Not as much quality in terms of technical ability though as Italy, it has to be fair. Italy posted a W0 D6 L1 record in a run of matches, that winless streak being snapped with a win over Fluminense. But still, it all suggests that they could be vulnerable if England can put pressure on them. Italy will knock the ball around, maestro Andrea Pirlo being at the centre of everything of course. Up front they have decent options in Mario Balotelli and Ciro Immobile, both around 2/1 in the anytime goalscorer market. But Italy aren’t Spain, and they do like to push themselves forward in a positive manner. The more they do, the more they could be caught out by England’s pace.
Italy have drawn a wealth of matches at the World Cup finals, indeed 26% of all their games ever played have produced draws. Their most common result is 1-1 and all three of their last World Cup matches have ended with that scoreline, so that is definitely worth a shot at a price of 5/1, because let’s face it, England’s defence doesn’t look as if it is going to keep a clean sheet easily. Italy have also scored in each and every one of their last 14 World Cup group stage matches, so it should indicate them getting on the board. But just about everything that these two sides have done before in World Cup matches have been by narrow margins. Wouldn’t expect this game to be settled by anything other than a 1 Goal Winning Margin and you can take a price of 3/1 on either side to land that.
In the England v Italy head to head, it is the Italians who lead 9-8 from 24 previous matches. Their only previous coming together in the World Cup Finals was back in 1990 when they squared off in the match for third place. Italy won it 2-1.
England v Italy Betting Odds
Italy 9/5, Draw 2/1, England 2/1
Online betting site Paddy Power are going big with a promotion for England v Italy World Cup betting. If Italy beat England, then they will refund all losing bets on the Correct Score, Scorecast and Half Time/Full Time Markets.
England v Italy Predictions
There is a lot of pressure riding on this opening group fixture for both of them. Neither are going to want to lose, so a draw is a tempting proposition in this one. You can do that by taking an England Draw No Bet at Even money for backing the Three Lions. Alternatively, this has the look of being fairly tight and going under 2.5 goals would be the way to swing it.
