Simon Dalton presents his prediction for the European Under-21 Championship match.
At the previous UEFA European Under-21 Championship, neither Germany U21 nor Italy U21 progressed beyond the group stage, marking a disappointing campaign for both sides. However, their displays in the current tournament have shown a marked improvement.
Germany U21
Germany U21 are the only squad in the competition to have taken maximum points from the group stage. While wins against two less competitive opponents were largely expected, overcoming England U21 — the reigning runners-up — was a more significant achievement, particularly given that they were still seeking qualification at the time. The Germans have clearly advanced since their last outing at the tournament, where they faced both England and the Czech Republic in the group stage and suffered defeats: a 0:2 loss to the English and a 1:2 result against the Czechs. This time around, they reversed those outcomes, beating England U21 (2:1) and the Czech Republic U21 (4:2).
Italy U21
Italy U21 finished level on seven points with Spain U21, who topped the standings only on goal difference — six goals to Italy U21's three. In their head-to-head match-up, the Italians responded quickly after falling behind, finding an equaliser just six minutes later. Notably, no player from the squad ranks among the tournament’s top ten scorers.
Germany U21 vs Italy U21 Prediction
Nick Woltemade not only broke into that top ten — he currently leads it outright with four goals, exceeding the total scored by the entire Italy U21 side. The physically imposing forward, who often plays in a more withdrawn role, was also among the top scorers in senior football last season, scoring twelve goals for VfB Stuttgart in the Bundesliga. With that in mind, we expect Germany U21 to claim victory in regular time.
