After falling at home to England in their opening Group C fixture in the Euro 2024 qualifiers, Italy will be targeting a swift return to winning ways as they travel to Malta on Sunday.
Malta are usually considered the weakest team in most qualifying groups and have never featured at a major tournament. Given the quality of teams in the group, they are expected to finish bottom of the standings.
The Maltese have already begun on the back foot having suffered a 2-1 defeat in North Macedonia in their opening fixture. That was the third defeat in the last five matches for Michele Marcolini’s men, who have only claimed one win in that run.
A small positive for Malta ahead of the visit of Italy is that they have claimed a few good results at home, beating San Marino and Israel in recent outings. However, they still struggle against the top sides and suffered a 1-0 defeat to Republic of Ireland in their previous home fixture.
Italy are the current Champions of Europe but have found things tough since winning the title in 2021. They failed to reach the Qatar 2022 World Cup and there is already pressure on manager Roberto Mancini to ensure they get a chance to defend their European title in 2024.
Considered early favourites to progress from Group C alongside England, the Italians have not made the best start to the qualifiers. They suffered a 2-1 home defeat to the Three Lions in their opening fixture with Matteo Retegui’s second half effort unable to spark a fightback after going two goals down.
While things have undoubtedly been rough for Italy in recent times, they will still travel to Malta with some confidence. They have won two of their last three away matches beating Hungary and Albania in both fixtures.
How the bookies view it
Italy have been installed as overwhelming favourites among the bookies and are priced at 1/9 by bet365. An unlikely victory for Malta is valued at 22/1 by Paddy Power while a draw is set at odds of 9/1 by bet365.
Head to head
Italy have never lost to Malta, winning all eight previous meetings. The most recent fixture was a Euro 2016 qualifier which the Italians won 1-0.
Players to watch
Italy have plenty of attacking quality with the likes of Federico Chiesa, Domenico Berardi and Matteo Politano all likely to feature on Sunday. All three men can combine to ensure the Italians produce over 1.5 goals at 1/6 with Paddy Power.
At the other end of the pitch, the Italians will be targeting a shutout. With Rafael Toloi and Francesco Acerbi maintaining their central defensive partnership, a clean sheet could be on the cards at 1/2 is bet365.
Anything else catch the eye?
Italy are expected to claim a comfortable victory on Sunday and can be backed to win both halves at 10/11 with Paddy Power. A -2 handicap can also be considered for the visitors at evens with Paddy Power.
Desperate to bounce back from the defeat to England, the Italians are likely to make a fast start on Sunday and could be tipped to be in the lead by 20 minutes at 7/5 with Paddy Power.
This Euro 2024 match between Malta and Italy will be played on Mar 26, 2023 and kick off at 19:45. Check below for our tipsters best Malta vs Italy prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
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