Having impressed the watching continent in their opening win

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Having impressed the watching continent in their opening win, Italy now take on local rivals Switzerland on Wednesday, at Rome’s historic Stadio Olimpico. While the Azzurri effectively need only a point to progress, their less illustrious neighbours are seeking their first win of Euro 2020, following a frustrating draw with Group A counterparts Wales.

Italy face their second Euro 2020 matchday at Rome’s Olympic Stadium in high spirits, after destroying Turkey 3-0 in Friday’s curtain raiser – the first time Italy (in 39 games) have scored more than two goals at a Euro finals. The victory also saw Italy register a first-half shot difference of +14 – the biggest margin in a Euro finals since 2004 – and boosted the nation’s win rate in Rome-held games at any major tournament finals to 81.82% (W9, D2).

Another clean sheet here would put Italy within one game of equalling their existing all-time record of 30 games unbeaten (1939-present). So too would it mark Italy’s first streak of ten shutouts since a run spanning November 1988 to June 1990, while elongating their current six-game unbeaten H2H run (W2, D4). Five of those H2Hs saw less than 2.5 match goals.

After a 1-1 draw in their opening match, Switzerland have drawn in four consecutive fixtures at the European Championships. That draw vs Wales equalised the record set by Portugal across tournaments (June 2012-June 2016), and puts them in the frame to be only the second team to draw all three Euro group games since the format expansion for Euro 1980.

The Swiss have won on Italian soil just once in all 24 H2Hs (D5, L18), though the win came at this very stadium back in 1982! Furthermore, Switzerland have lost four (D2) of their last six internationals vs countries currently ranked tenth or better, failing to score in three.

Date: 16/06/2021
Time: 22:00
Venue: Stadio Olimpico (Rome)
Pick for this match:
“1” – @1.70 ( 1Xbet )