Italy vs Austria Match Preview

Italy is the big favorite to advance to the next stage after finishing the group stage with three wins after three games. Not only that, but they were the only team that won all three matches in the group stage without conceding a single goal. The best thing about this Italian team is that not only they have a very solid defense but they are also scoring plenty of goals. The very impressive wins 3-0 against Turkey and 3-0 against Switzerland were backed by a marginal 1-0 win against Wales, but Mancini made lots of changes to the Italian lineup.

Once again the best men are expected to return here and that means in midfield Verratti is going to play from the start alongside Barella and Jorginho and I fancy their midfield to play a key role as they have done lately. In attack, Chiesa should replace Berardi and join the duo Immobile - Insigne. Their only problem is with Chiellini who returned on training but Mancini's final decision might be not to risk him using Acerbi instead who should partner with Bonucci, while the other two defenders are Di Lorenzo and Spinazzola.

Austria finished second in their group, after grabbing a deserved win in the third game against a direct rival like Ukraine. All in all, they performed well, with a 3-1 win over North Macedonia which was pretty much expected, and a 1-0 win over Ukraine, while losing 2-0 to the Netherlands. And that game against the Netherlands is what makes me skeptical about their abilities when they face teams superior in quality than them. While it is true they managed to have slightly a higher ball possession, it was mostly useless as they weren't creative or pose any dangers to their rival's goal.

Remember that here they will face a team that is even more solid in defense and that would make things worse for them. Having Alaba and a few good players like Sabitzer, Ilsanker or Laimer might not be enough against a team with quality players in every position.

In conclusion, I think Italy can win this game during regular time and advance to the next stage. They are just too good right now with 11 consecutive matches where they kept a clean sheet and managed to win in the 17 of their last 20 duels.

Austria is expected to stay back in this one trying to defend low, as I expect them to be crushed by the intensity that the Italian midfield has when they have the ball possession. Another interesting detail is that Austria never won against Italy in a major competition and I really do not see them having what it takes to do it here.