Georgio Chiellini has been ruled out of the Italy squad for the forthcoming friendlies due to injury but manager Antonio Conti has caused controversy by overlooking Daniele De Rossi, Andrea Pirlo and Claudio Marchisio. Thiago Motta and Marco Verratti are likely to be the fulcrum in the middle around which Conti can cast his eye over some emerging prospects for the European Championships.
Conti has a conundrum in attack, Graziano Pelle has been recalled but the Southampton striker has only started 9 games for his club this season. Eder is in good form for Inter and could lead the attack with Simone Zaza and Ciro being possible partners.
Spain coach Vicente Del Bosque has selected Athletic Bilbao striker Aritz Aduriz ahead of Chelsea’s Diego Costa who has only scored once in his last 10 appearances for his country. Injury has denied Arsenal’s Santi Corzola a place and Barcelona’s central midfielder Sergi Roberto joins the squad. Real Madrid’s wingman Isco is recalled and can provide an attacking option on either flank.
Key Betting Facts
Italy went unbeaten in qualifying for Euro 2016 with seven wins and three draws to finish top of Group H, ahead of Croatia and Norway. Conte’s side has played twice since the qualifiers, losing 3-1 in Belgium and drawing 2-2 against Romania in Bologna last November. Italy have now gone four games without keeping a clean sheet in which they have scored eight and conceded seven.
Spain lost 2-1 in Slovakia in their second qualifying game but went on to win Group C with nine wins and one defeat, finishing above Slovakia and Ukraine. The reigning European Champions have won their last seven games and gone without conceding in the last six. Spain’s scheduled match against Belgium in November was cancelled but Del Bosque’s men got to play England during the same international break and comfortably won 2-0 in Alicante.
- Italy have won 4 drawn 4 and lost 2 of their last 10 matches
- Spain have won 8 drawn 0 and lost 2 of their last 10 matches
- Over the course of their previous 10 matches, Italy have scored an average of 1.4 goals
- and conceded an average of 1.2 goals per game
- Over the course of their previous 10 matches, Spain have scored an average of 1.4 goals
- and conceded an average of 0.4 goals per game
- There have been over 2.5 goals scored in 5 of Italy’s previous 10 matches
- There have been over 2.5 goals scored in 2 of Spain’s previous 10 matches
Betting Prediction
It appears Conte remains undecided about some areas of his European Championship squad and Spain’s settled group can take advantage as the Italians find their feet.
Vicente Del Bosqu’s side are known for possession based football, while the Azzuri will sit back and defend hoping to launch quick counter attacks. Goal line may stay low and could see under 2.5 goals @1.52 in a match where Spain has an upper hand and could edge this one by a narrow margin. Back Spain to win @ 2.30