Italy will begin preparations for their title defence at Euro 2024 with an international friendly against South American side Ecuador on Sunday. Undeniably, Italy are the better of both sides and having shown some good form lately, should come out on top in this one.
Ecuador are warming up for their regional competition with the Copa America coming up in the summer. They have shown some good form lately and are unbeaten in nine of their last 10 matches, claiming seven wins in that run.
The South Americans head into Sunday’s clash off the back of a 2-0 victory over Guatemala in a in a friendly on Friday. Goals in each half from John Yeboah and Gonzalo Plata were enough to earn them the win.
The win over Guatemala showed what Ecuador are about under manager Felix Sanchez as they are often difficult to break down. They have kept clean sheets in their last four matches across all competitions.
Italy had a tough qualifying campaign in group C having been drawn against the likes of England, Ukraine and North Macedonia. They appeared out of sorts at times but put together enough positive results to finish second and secure automatic qualification.
The reigning European champions picked up their form towards the latter stages of the qualifiers. They are unbeaten in seven of their last eight matches across all competitions claiming five wins in that run, including a 2-1 victory over Venezuela in a friendly on Thursday.
For manager Luciano Spalletti, games like these will be centred around building chemistry among his players ahead of their title defence. However, the Italians will be keen to build some confidence with a few wins and will look to replicate a recent 5-2 victory over North Macedonia.
How the bookies view it
Italy are considered overwhelming favourites among the bookies with a win priced at 23/20 by bet365. A victory for Ecuador is valued at 13/5 by Coral, who is also offering odds of 23/10 for a draw.
Head to head
Italy claimed a 2-0 victory over Ecuador during the 2002 World Cup. Both teams also played out a 1-1 draw in a friendly back in 2005.
Players to watch
Federico Chiesa always seems to turn up for Italy, scoring three goals in his last five international appearances. Mateo Retegui has also caught the eye lately and coming off his brace on Thursday, could combine well to produce over 1.5 goals for the Italians at 11/8 with bet365.
John Yeboah has caught the eye for Ecuador in recent times and could be worth keeping an eye on. Alongside Gonzalo Plata, who was also on target on Friday, the South Americans could be backed to produce over 0.5 goals at 6/4 with bet365.
Anything else catch the eye?
Ecuador and Italy have decent quality in attack and both teams could be backed to score at 19/20 with Coral. Over 2.5 goals could also be considered at 5/4 with bet365 while Paddy Power is offering odds of 3/1 for over 3.5 goals.
Italy have opened the scoring in four of their last five matches and are priced at 4/5 by Paddy Power to grab the first goal on Sunday.
This International Friendly match between Ecuador and Italy will be played on Mar 24, 2024 and kick off at 20:00. Check below for our tipsters best Ecuador vs Italy prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.