EURO 2024 Preview: Italy vs Albania Prediction, Preview, and Odds (June 15)
- Italy kick off their defense of the EUROs in Dortmund against Albania
- Albania will be the rank outsiders to qualify after being drawn alongside Italy, Croatia, and Spain
The defending EURO champions kick off their defense of the title in Dortmund on Saturday, as Italy open their campaign against Albania. A win on the opening day will be vital for the Italians will matches against Croatia and Spain to come.
How To Watch
- When: Saturday, June 15, 2024, at 3:00 p.m ET
- Where: Signal Iduna Park, Dortmund, Germany
- How To Watch: FOX
Odds
| Match Result | Odds |
|---|---|
| Italy | -250 |
| Draw | +350 |
| Albania | +750 |
Match Preview
Italy enjoyed a productive EURO campaign in the previous edition, claiming a dramatic penalty shootout success against England at Wembley. However, expectations surrounding their chances are extremely low coming into this edition of the tournament after struggling through their qualification campaign last year.
Italy and Albania will be colliding at the EUROs for the first time, but the Italians have landed victories in all four previous encounters since 2014, scoring a total of seven goals and allowing just one. However, only one previous nation have managed to successfully defend their EURO title, with Spain accomplishing that feat in 2012.
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However, Albania’s chances in this opening match could be enhanced based on the fact that no side have had a lower goals per game ration across their last 45 fixtures in the competition than Italy. The national side’s matches have seen an average of 1.84 goals scored per game across that period, with 52 for and 31 against.
Albania will be playing at their second EUROs this summer, after being eliminated in the group stage in 2016. But, their qualifying record was fairly impressive after topping their group after winning four of their eight matches and conceding just four goals. They come into the EUROs after winning each of their last two warm-up matches.
Italy vs Albania Prediction
This could be a cagey opening match in the group for Italy, with Albania’s defensive record being a huge factor to consider. For that reason, we could see a shock draw being played out on Saturday.
Free Pick:
- Draw
