It is Belgium vs. Italy at Allianz Arena, in the derby of the EURO 2020 quarterfinals. The two powerhouses come into this match filled with confidence after winning all the contests in the previous part of the tournament. However, the Italians did have to go through extra times against Austria but avoided a penalty shootout defeating the rivals before the 120th minute. On the other side, Belgium eliminated the reigning European champions, Portugal, in the Round of 16. According to many, these two sides are in the best form of all the remaining teams in the championship.
Preview
Belgium (+280) suffered a massive beating against Portugal. The rivals wanted to hurt the Red Devils’ players, especially De Bruyne, whom they eliminated in the second half, and Hazard. We also want to say that what we saw from Selecao is a disgrace for football.
But to get back to Belgium’s performance. They could have scored the second goal in the finish if it weren’t for some odd decisions from Thorgan Hazard, who didn’t pass the ball to his teammates on several occasions.
Overall, this is the 13th straight match for the Red Devils without losing and the fifth consecutive win. Their backline allowed just one goal during that stretch which is amazing.
Italy (+100) didn’t shine against Austria in the round of 16 as they did in the group stage. Azzurri had to go through overtime to take down the courageous neighbors. It was 2-1 for Mancini’s side, which allowed a goal following 11 straight games without one. Some suggest that it took place in the extra times and that it won’t count, be we will.
This was the 31st match in a row for this unit without a defeat, but an 11th consecutive win. When looking at these stats, the Italians are by far the team with the best form on EURO 2020.
The heroes against Austria were the youngsters – Federico Chiesa and Matteo Pessina, the guy who shouldn’t even be here, as he wasn’t Mancini’s original pick for the EURO squad. However, he ended up on the roster following certain injuries.
Latest News
Eden Hazard reportedly finished his EURO 2020 participation, the latest tests reveal. Dirty plays from the Portuguese team took a toll in the end. The latest sources are suggesting that Kevin De Bruyne won’t be able to play to against Italy.
Giorgio Chiellini will be ready for this match, the Italian sources claim. Alessandro Florenzi‘s state is still doubtful.
Head to Head Games
Belgium and Italy met in the group stage of the previous EURO, held in France in 2016. Azzurri won that game 2-0. Giaccherini and Pelle scored both goals, but the man of the match was Leonardo Bonucci.
Prediction
Without De Bruyne and Hazard, Belgium’s prospects for the next stage are pretty slim, However, we simply can’t bet against them because they have Romelu Lukaku who is a massive advantage upfront. Inter’s superstar knows all of the opponents very well, and he could be and X-factor on the field. Our suggestion here would be under 2.5 goals, with the odds on that -195.
Here are the previews for the rest of the EURO 2020 quarterfinal matches
If you like Copa America 2021 quarterfinals, here are the preview for those events as well.
For those who want to see early picks for the football tournament at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, my colleague, but most of all friend, Kurt Boyer, has that covered up at this LINK.
Nikola Velickovic is a sports journalist who loves to write and read on all sports. Nikola contributes both news updates and functions as a sports breaking news writer at WagerBop.
Twitter:
Email: nikola@wagerbop.com
I honestly believe Italy will come out flying and given the scare against Austria they are gonna push hard knowing whom they are up against prediction Italy to win 2 1
Also Italy can say they know Lukaku better than any other opponent and know how to stop him. A full sided Belgium will give Italy problems but from what I saw from the Belgium Portugal game, they do not have a midfield or defense to hold Italy for more than a half. Either way it will be a good game.
The entire world has predicted Italy to always lose when it most counted. They’ve always been the underdogs even when theyve been the favorites. Italy will shutdown the Belgium offense. 2-0 final Italy
Bad pick. Italy will have tons of room against Belgium. Austria is big and played defensive so Belgium is a much better opponent for Italy. Also Italy has a great defense, Belgium will be lucky to score even if De Bruyne plays. Italy has much more quality than Portugal and Belgium wasn’t even that impressive against Portugal.