Spain, who are looking to secure a record fourth title, kick-started their UEFA Euro 2024 campaign on a high note as they dominated Croatia 3-0 in the opener. Spain will take on Italy, who defeated Albania 2-1 in their opener, in their second Group B clash. La Roja and Gli Azzurri are scheduled to face each other at the Arena AufSchalke in Gelsenkirchen on Thursday night.
In Group B, Spain are placed at the top with three points followed by Italy in the second spot with a win in their first match, however, Luis de la Fuente’s side managed a better goal difference to secure the first position. This will be the 11th clash between the two sides in a major competition, across the UEFA Euro (8) and FIFA World Cup (3), where Italy won four matches, drew four and Spain won twice.
Spain vs Italy: Match Prediction
In their last five competitive clashes, Spain scored nine goals excluding penalties while Italy found the back of the net four times. Italy are unbeaten in their last 10 UEFA European Championship matches with their last defeat coming in 2016. On the other hand, Spain have won all three of their Euro matches against the reigning champions of the tournament.
After their 2011 friendly, Italy scored more than one goal against Spain just once during a Round of 16 clash in the Euro 2016 while they last scored two goals in a major competition against Spain in the quarter-final of the 1994 FIFA World Cup.
Considering their current forms, the game between Spain and Italy is expected to be a closely-fought contest with each team scoring at least a goal. According to SportsTiger, Spain are likely to beat Italy by 3-2 on Thursday night.
Spain vs Italy: Predicted Lineups
- Spain: Unai Simon; Dani Carvajal, Robin Le Normand, Nacho, Marc Cucurella; Mikel Merino, Rodri, Pedri; Lamine Yamal, Alvaro Morata, Nico Williams
- Italy : Gianluigi Donnarumma; Giovanni Di Lorenzo, Alessandro Bastoni, Riccardo Calafiori, Federico Dimarco; Davide Frattesi, Jorginho, Nicolo Barella; Federico Chiesa, Gianluca Scamacca, Bryan Christante