Both England and Italy are playing to reach the semi-finals of the European Under-21 Championship when they clash on Wednesday in the final round of group matches. England could advance in case of a draw, but only if Sweden fail to beat Portugal. For Italy there is only one chance, they have to win in order to have any chance of reaching the last four. The two sides have met four times before in this tournament and 12 times overall, Italy have snatched five wins while England won on four occasions.
England were defeated 1-0 by Portugal in the opening group match but then bounced back to beat Sweden, albeit with a late goal from Manchester United's Jesse Lingard. England are tied with Sweden on three points while Portugal are leading the group with four points in their tally. Alex Pritchard is injured and will be unavailable for the match, Lingard could take his place.
Italy have been disappointing so far as they grabbed just one point out of the first two group matches. They were beaten 2-1 by Sweden in the first match after having taken the lead through Domenico Berardi in the first half. They still have the chance to qualify thanks to the second-match goalless draw with Portugal but they will need to beat England. Stefano Sturaro will be unavailable as he serves the second of his three-match ban after being sent off in the match against Sweden.
Probable line-ups:
England Under-21s: Butland - Jenkinson, Moore, Gibson, Garbutt - Redmond, Hughes, Chalobah, Lingard - Ings, Kane
Italy Under-21s: Bardi - Biraghi, Rugani, Romagnoli, Zappacosta - Crisetig, Benassi, Battochio - Cataldi, Belotti, Berardi
Here are the odds for the match at Bet365:
England win - 2.40 Draw - 3.25 Italy win - 2.90
Johnajax 8 years ago
I was watching other match Portugal against Sweden and i think that it is shame what these two teams done. Draw 1-1 was good for both teams and in last five or six minutes they didn't play at all, all players was just standing and waiting for end. Portugal had ball on their own half and nobody even tried to attack them....
I was watching other match Portugal against Sweden and i think that it is shame what these two teams done. Draw 1-1 was good for both teams and in last five or six minutes they didn't play at all, all players was just standing and waiting for end. Portugal had ball on their own half and nobody even tried to attack them. I think that it is shame because this match was spectacular and Italy deserved with this win to go into the next round.
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sharpe
8 years ago
Another disappointment for the English football after the convincing win for Italy. There is something wrong with English national sides, I don't know what it is but with this class players in the squad they really should done better. Italy is the team who have to regret more that they are out of the tournament after this...
Another disappointment for the English football after the convincing win for Italy. There is something wrong with English national sides, I don't know what it is but with this class players in the squad they really should done better. Italy is the team who have to regret more that they are out of the tournament after this fabulous performance.
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timidi 8 years ago
We saw great match a lot of goals and Italy won 1-3 but both teams are eliminated. In other match in group Portugal and Sweden played draw 1-1 and they both goes in knockout round. I think that Italy maybe deserved to go in next round after this match and great victory against England but they lost their chances at the...
We saw great match a lot of goals and Italy won 1-3 but both teams are eliminated. In other match in group Portugal and Sweden played draw 1-1 and they both goes in knockout round. I think that Italy maybe deserved to go in next round after this match and great victory against England but they lost their chances at the start of tournament with this loss against Sweden.. that was key match...
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Alexa Alexa 8 years ago
English defence must be aware of Domenico Berardi.He si biggest threat in Italian squad.He can both score and assist. If they manage to stop him,then it wwill be much more easy for them to win the 3 points.He was a key player for his Sassuolo last two years.
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sharpe
8 years ago
England looking really great up front with players like Lingard, Ings and Kane who are future stars in the Premier League so I think they should be considered as a favourites for this one. Will be really surprising if the English squad do not qualified for the next round but I think everything is possible when the Italy....
England looking really great up front with players like Lingard, Ings and Kane who are future stars in the Premier League so I think they should be considered as a favourites for this one. Will be really surprising if the English squad do not qualified for the next round but I think everything is possible when the Italy. I'm sure both teams will try to play at their best because there is no room for mistakes at this stage, pretty exiting game is ahead of us.
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Alexa Alexa 8 years ago
This will be very good match.I think taht England are slightly favourites.Thay have Harry Kane and I think taht he can be man of the match. England played better then Italy in first two rounds.It will be the key for them to score an early opeener.My prediction is 2 0 win for English national team.
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Shumar4life
8 years ago
Both of this teams has quality but I believe that Italians has advantage on this match. They have better ball control and they plays more organized football at this stage. They look more like a team than England. Both of this teams has good players, but I am predicting win for Italia on this match
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seculla
8 years ago
England have great squad for this European U-21 Championship and Italy also. But they didn't started this Championship as they wanted and as almost all of us expected. England have one loose from Portugaland one win against Sweden, on the other side Italy started even worse, they lost the game against Sweden, even they...
England have great squad for this European U-21 Championship and Italy also. But they didn't started this Championship as they wanted and as almost all of us expected. England have one loose from Portugaland one win against Sweden, on the other side Italy started even worse, they lost the game against Sweden, even they had one player more and a lead of 1:0 in the first half, they lost that game. So this match is "must win" for both teams and I expect great football.
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