                          Match Facts
                                       Italy vs England
                                        Euro 2020 Final
                                     Date: Sunday, 11 July 2021
                                    Kick-off at 20:00 UK/ 21:00 CET
                                  Venue: Wembley Stadium (London).
The final of Euro 2020 is here, at the home of football Wembley with England and Italy fighting out to end a trophy drought.
Italy defeated a young Spanish team in penalty shootout to reach the finals for the first time since 2000. Roberto Mancini’s mean were surprisingly on the backfoot throughout the game with Spain having the better chances to win the game inside the regulation 90 and 30 minutes of extra time.
This is Italy’s their third overall European Championship final appearance. They were crowned champions when they hosted the hosted the tournament in 1968.
Meantime, England dived into the finals at the expense of neutral’s favorite Denmark. Though the Three Lions were the better side throughout the 90 minutes and then in the extra time, they needed the help of Dutch referee Danny Makkelie to score the goal and avoid going to the penalties.
Raheem Sterling need special mention as well because the victory could not have been possible without the way he went down for the penalties. Didn’t it look natural, though replies mentioned otherwise.
This is England’s first ever final at the Euros, beating the previous best, reaching the semifinals when they hosted the competition in 1996.
England Team News
Southgate has a fully fit squad to choose for the teams’ first every appearance at the European Championship.
Changes are hardly expected here, Southgate has been fairly consistent with his selections.
England Predicted Starting Line-up (4-2-3-1)
Pickford – Shaw, Maguire, Stones, Walker – James, Phillips – Sancho, Mount, Sterling – Kane.
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Italy Team News
The Azzurri has few problems leading up to the final. Lorenzo Pellegrini and Leonardo Spinazzola will not play any part on Sunday.
Meantime, Federico Chiesa is a doubt after forcing out just before the penalties in the semifinal win over Spain. His Juventus teammate Federico Bernardeschi is an automatic replacement if he is deemed unfit to start on time.
Italy: Predicted Line-up (4-3-3)
Donnarumma – Di Lorenzo, Bonucci, Chiellini, Emerson – Barella, Jorginho, Veratti – Chiesa, Immobile, Insigne.
Italy vs England Head-to-head
- The teams last met in 2018 and it was at the Wembley stadium and settled for a 1-1 draw.
- Their last competitive meeting was at the World Cup 2014 in Brazil and the Italians won 2-1 on that occasion.
- England managed to register just 1 win from their last 11 meetings against Italy, drew 4 and lost 5.
- Both teams have scored in 5 of the last 6. The most common scoreline happened during the period is 2-1.
Italy vs England Prediction
The European Championship has a history of producing extremely tight finals and the over 2.5 goals are seen in just 1 of the 9 title deciders since 1980.
Also, judging by how these two teams stacked up from the knockout phase, employing tactics with priority to protecting their own defensive area, goals will be at a premium here as well. Therefore, my first tip for the Euro 2020 final is under 2.5 goals priced at 1.50 odd.
The teams are more or less similar on paper, and they could cancel each other, however the bulk of pressure is directly on English players after they struggled to get past Denmark with big chunk of ball-possession at their own backyard. But Italy has a knack of scoring goals with little ball possession and I back them to get the job done, even if this need extra time and penalties.
The most interesting aspect I am waiting to see is the way England won against Denmark is going to have any psychological aspect on players for Sunday’s final.
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