Simon Dalton presents his prediction for the Euro 2024 match.
Italy
Luciano Spalletti replaced Roberto Mancini as head coach during the Euro2024 qualifying campaign. After that, Italy only lost 1 game, taking 4 points of the 6 possible in the games versus Ukraine, which was important for taking second position. In June, Italy have proven they have a strong defensive line. They have ended their game versus Turkey in a goalless draw and beaten Bosnia and Herzegovina (1:0) with 2.44 xG in total for 180 minutes.
Albania
This is only third European Championship in Albanian history. Their qualification was a surprise, but let’s be honest, they were lucky enough to see their rivals Czechia and Sweden, in crisis. Albania were beaten by Chile (0:3) and Sweden (0:1) in March. They’ve won their recent friendlies but it can’t be taken for real as the level of the opponents was too low. They’ve beaten Liechtenstein (3:0) and Azerbaijan (3:1).
Italy – Albania prediction
Italy have to be focused even on this game as they’re about to struggle for the first two positions with Spain and Croatia. Italy haven’t been perfect recently, but they are still dangerous.
The defensive line of the Italian side is pretty strong. Albania will hardly be able to score a goal. Italy have Scamacca, Frattesi and Chiesa to score at least twice and win the game.
