Switzerland U21 vs Italy U21 Predictions & Match Preview

Soccer Euro Under 21 Championship - Group Stage

⚽ 25 June 2023 - 16:00 GMT +0

Switzerland came back from a goal down to beat Norway 2-1 on Thursday in their UEFA European U21 Championship Group D curtain raiser. The 2011 runners-up can now take one step into the knockout stages if they can avoid a defeat against five-time champions Italy. Coach Patrick Rahmen was happy that “the team was able to come back and win” against Norway, although he wouldn’t want his side to go behind once again in their quest to avoid a second consecutive group stage exit.

History suggests that the Swiss may struggle to avoid going behind as five of their last six U21 Euro matches have seen them concede the match opener. If they continue that trend and match it with their capability of striking back, an entertaining game could be on the cards, as was seen in their last five regular 90-minute games (W3, L2) which all witnessed over 2.5 goals.

Looking for their first European U21 title since 2004, the Italians started this campaign in the worst possible manner, going down 2-1 to France on Thursday. Coach Paolo Nicolato was enraged at the “refereeing errors” but was quick to acknowledge that they “must regroup and look at the next two games.” A defeat here will all but guarantee a third group-stage exit across the last five U21 Euro appearances, which would be a big disappointment for the competition heavyweights.

The Azzurrini can perhaps write off that defeat as a blip, as they haven’t lost consecutive games since 2018. Italy do have history on their side too, as they have never lost to Switzerland (W2, D3), while that sequence saw them concede just a single goal, so a return to the traditional gritty Italian defending may be their approach here.

Bookie	Home Win	Draw	Away Win	Take Action
	@ 4.00	@ 3.65	@ 1.90	BET NOW
	@ 3.85	@ 3.50	@ 1.80	BET NOW

📋 Players to watch: Switzerland’s Dan Ndoye had nine attempts (G1) in their opener against Norway, four more than any other player on the opening two days of the tournament. Italy midfielder Sandro Tonali is reportedly on the brink of a move to Newcastle, but showed he’s fully focused on the job at hand with a trademark free-kick that assisted his side’s lone goal against France.

⚡ Hot stat: There have been over 2.5 goals in ten of Switzerland’s last 11 Euro U21 matches.