Italy v Ireland Betting Preview – Euro 2016, 22nd June
Ireland have only scraps to play for now. They have no choice but to go out and put a win on the board in this to try and squeeze through to the knockout stages with four points. There’s a slim chance that a draw may be enough if Sweden lose against Belgium, but the men in green just have to target a win in their final group game and nothing else. That’s not going to be easy against an Italy side which has looked very accomplished and strong and who have yet to concede a goal in the tournament so far.
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Italy v Ireland Betting Tips
Italy have produced a couple of very good displays so far in the competition, sweeping their way past Belgium and Sweden without having conceded a goal. That really has raised their stock in the competition and after breezing past the Belgians in their opener, they needed a late winner from Eder to bag the three points against Sweden. They are going to take some beating given the way that they are set up at the moment. Italy weren’t in great shape going into the tournament and there were growing concerns about a leaky defence. However, they have now gotten back into their defensive groove in tournament football and on top of that, haven’t conceded in their last two against the Irish either. Italy are 13/5 to take a win to nil in this one and up in the Correct Score market you have a shot at Italy 1-0 at a price of 6/1 to shoot at.
There should be chances for italy in this one, because the Irish defence looked ragged in their heavy 3-0 defeat against Belgium. So the strength that Italy have shown in the tournament so makes it hard to see them losing this final group stage match of theirs. They will only need a draw in this one and they aren’t exactly likely to throw the situation away. You have Graziano Pelle and Eder up at around the 9/4 quoted in the anthem goalscorer market for the game. Italy have now posted a win in each of their last four games and haven’t conceded a goal in an of those. So they are clicking into top gear and top form just at the right team. Antonio Conte’s men really are the strong dark horse of the tournament right now. They are trading at 1/1 to earn the title at the moment, big value.
The Irish didn’t get much right against Belgium in their heavy defeat. They were the orchestrators of their own doom in some regards as they were sloppy in possession, giving the ball away very cheaply. That was far from the performance that they needed to get on the board because taking anytime out of that game would have been a massive boost. But Ireland aren’t totally out of this yet, but they have to now go and target a win in this tough match up. Maybe now knowing that they have nothing to lose and have to go for broke will actually help them. They could scrape through to the next round with a point but there’s no guarantees of that of course, especially with the heavy negative goal difference they have. Their defence then is a concern and they are out for form with just two wins in their last eight game. Shane Long was never in the game against Belgium and he is 21/20 in the anytime goalscorer market.
Italy v Ireland Betting Odds
Italy 6/4, Draw 2/1, Ireland 2/1
Italy v Ireland Predictions
The thing for Ireland here is that they need to come out and produce a special performance because Italy look a tough side at the moment. The grit is there for the Irish, but do they have the complete performance than they would need overall to get the job on the board? It is not apparently clear that they do and the game is likely to stay under 2.5 goals and who would put it past Italy sneaking a clean sheet victory?
