Switzerland vs Italy Prediction & Betting Tips (29 June)

Executioner of the French team in 2021, Switzerland is once again present in the round of 16 of the Euro this year. The Nati displayed a remarkable quality of play during the group stage and came close to taking 1st place in group A. Granit Xhaka's teammates started the competition in great style by logically dominating Hungary 3-1 before showing more difficulty against a sad Scotland 1-1. During the 3rd day, they displayed very good dispositions against the organizing country, Germany. Switzerland opened the scoring after half an hour of play before resisting the opposing attempts but unfortunately lost in added time 1-1. The Nati must therefore be content with 2nd place in the ranking but shows plenty of confidence for this round of 16. During their preparation for the Euro, the Helvetians performed rather well by winning against Estonia 4-0 then holding off Austria 1-1. For its part, Italy is almost a miracle in this Euro 2024.

While the Squadra Azzurra was in a very bad position against Croatia last Monday, they managed to equalize after 98th minute added time thanks to a very nice goal from Zaccagni 1-1. This allowed him to take 2nd place in group B, announced as the group of death. Before that, the Transalpines were not reassuring, far from it! They first dominated Albania despite an unconvincing second act 2-1 before being outclassed by Spain during the 2nd day 0-1. Against La Roja, the score does not reflect the nature of the match and the gap could have been much greater without a great Donnarumma in the cages. Italy was ultimately only attractive during the first half of the first match and enters the round of 16 with many uncertainties. The European champions are still in the running to retain their title but the first round clearly does not encourage optimism. Before the Euro, the Nazionale was held to a draw by Turkey 0-0 before achieving a narrow success against Bosnia-Herzegovina 1-0.

Announced to return against Germany, midfielder Zakaria (Monaco) and winger Zuber (AEK Athens) did not come into play. The experienced Mbabu (Augsburg), Sow (FC Sevilla) and Seferovic (Al Wasl, 25 goals in 93 sel) and Ligue 1 players like Garcia (OM), Omeragic (Montpellier), Cömert (Nantes) and Lotomba (Nice) were not called up. Conversely, the usual frames of this selection are there. We are thinking first of all about defender Akanji (Man City) and midfielder Xhaka (Leverkusen) who shone during the group stage. The goalkeeper Sommer (Inter) and the defender Schär (Newcastle) also act as captains. Not always very realistic in the first round, the former Niçois Ndoye (Bologna) on the other hand proved decisive by scoring the only goal for his team against Germany. The attackers Duah (Ludogorets, 1 goal in 2 sels) and Embolo (Monaco, 14 goals in 64 sels) had scored their goal against Hungary while the whimsical Shakiri went there with his traditional spectacular goal, against Scotland. Embolo should occupy the forefront of the attack this Saturday. For the Nazionale, it is important to report the suspension of one of the strong men of the first round Calafiori.

The young defender from Bologna certainly scored against his side against Spain but he showed very good skills like his classy action on Zaccagni's goal against Croatia. This summer, coach Luciano Spalletti had to resolve to leave out relatively important elements like Calabria, Acerbi, Scalvini, Udogie, Zaniolo and Berardi who are all on the floor. Midfielder Locatelli and striker Immobile were left out. On the other hand, in the cages, we find the goalkeeper Donnarumma (PSG) who was undoubtedly the best Italian of the group phase with very good saves against Spain and Croatia, including a penalty from Modric saved in particular . Defenders Di Lorenzo (Naples), Bastoni (Inter) and Dimarco (Inter) and midfielders Pellegrini (Roma) and Barella (Inter) are also there. Up front, the rough Scamacca (Atalanta) and Chiesa (Juventus) did not really convince and they were even relegated to the bench against Croatia in favor of the attackers Retegui (Genoa) and Raspadori (Naples) . Also watch out for replacement Zaccagni. The latter was the savior of the Squadra Azzurra by scoring a magnificent goal to give his team 2nd place.