It is weird to think that the England team has made the final, the first time since 1966.
Route to the Final and the Factors to consider
England –
- Group Winners of Group D (Wins against Croatia and Czech Republic, Draw against Scotland)
- Round of 16 – Win against Germany (2-0 in 90 mins)
- Quarter Finals – Win against Ukraine (4-0 in 90 mins)
- Semi Finals – Win against Denmark (1-1 in 90 mins, 2-1 Final Score after extra time)
Italy –
- Group Winners of Group A (Wins against Wales, Switzerland and Turkey)
- Round of 16 – Win against Austria (0-0 in 90 mins, 2-1 Final Score after extra time)
- Quarter Finals – Win against Belgium (2-1 in 90 minutes)
- Semi Finals – Win against Spain (1-1 in 90 minutes and stayed the same after extra time, decided on penalties – 5-3)
England have had the easier playoff draw after getting out of the groups compared to Italy which can be taken one of two ways.
England ranked 4th in the World by Fifa beat a tough Germany side (12th), wiped out Ukraine (24th) and just beat Denmark (10th). Whilst Italy (7th) had to beat two teams higher than them in the rankings with Spain (6th) and Belgium (1st). So, Italy may feel the stronger side as they have had to battle allot harder than England had too.
However, England has had to play less football than Italy, with Italy going to two extra times to England’s one. Then England’s weak spot – Penalties, Italy has had to do penalties already. England will be fresher as a team leading into the match.
Goals
One of the main things that has England beating Italy is their key player’s form upfront. It took England a while to get truly going but both Harry Kane and Raheem Sterling have a chance at getting the golden boot. Harry Kane sits on 4 goals and Raheem Sterling on 3 goals – both can overtake Cristiano Ronaldo’s 5 goals.
Compared to Italy – There is a big difference. Ciro Immobile, Federico Chiesa, Lorenzo Insigne, Manuel Locatelli, and Matteo Pessina all sit on 2 goals in the tournament. They do not rely on key players as England do. They share the workload and have had a better consistency to it.
If Italy cancel out England’s target men, that will likely neutralise England for Italy to win the game.
Head to Head
In recent History, England vs Italy has occurred 6 times. This has been once at the Euros (2012), once at the World Cup (2014), and 4 Friendlies. Italy have won 3, England have won 1 and 2 have been draws. This will be close.
Expect Goals, only 1 game between the pair has being 0-0 with the other 5 having both teams scoring at least 1 goal.
Who is the Favourite?
With us being based in England, we would always be the favourites odds wise. Looking at a variety of different sites to see what other people think England around 60% chance of winning. With the added fact this is based at Wembley – We would up the percent to 70%.
England have still got star players who should outshine Italy on the day, however they still must show up on the day. Italy meanwhile is nearly at that point but do not have household names to step up just yet.
Our Hearts say England while are Heads say this could go either way. Either way this will be a interesting and heart pounding day ahead.
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