Italy vs Albania Predictions

• Four of Italy’s last five games have gone under 2.5 goals
• Albania only conceded four times in eight qualifiers
• Davide Frattesi was Italy’s top scorer in qualifying

Defending champions looking to start in style

Italy lifted the European Championship trophy at Wembley three years ago but the defending champions have had an up-and-down time of it since then. The Azzurri missed out on qualifying for the World Cup in Qatar after losing to North Macedonia in the play-off and they only just scraped through automatically from the qualifiers, finishing level on points with Ukraine and a distant second to England.

Luciano Spalletti has taken over from Roberto Mancini and has been tasked with guiding this team to become just the second side in the history of this tournament to retain the crown.

They face a tough group, alongside Spain, Croatia and Albania, and get their campaign under way against the Red and Blacks.

Albania topped their qualifying group ahead of Poland and the Czech Republic, reaching the finals of this competition for just the second time after failing to make it out of the group in 2016.

Former Arsenal defender Sylvinho is the new boss and has turned this team into a hard to beat outfit. They have lost just two of their last 12 games, although many of those came against inferior opposition too the team they are facing here.

They did manage to qualify without their two best attacking options, Rey Manaj has only recently been reintegrated into the side after scoring 18 goals in the Turkish top flight last season while Chelsea’s Armando Broja returns from injury and is likely to lead the line.

Albania should keep things tight

Albania’s success in qualifying came from their defensive solidity, they only conceded four times in eight games, and they have some solid defensive options, many of whom ply their trade in Italy.

Captain Berat Djimsiti was a key part of the Atalanta team that won the Europa League while Elseid Hysaj has been a key player for both Napoli and Lazio over the last decade.

Midfielder Kristjan Asllani played 23 league games for title-winning Inter team and in fact, nine of the 26-man Albanian squad featured in Serie A last season so they are not to be underestimated.

Frattesi could be key

Four of Italy’s last five games have gone under 2.5 goals as they have struggled to find the right attacking dynamic, with Spalletti trying a number of different options in the forward line.

They face a solid Albanian back line and this game could become a cagey one, take under 2.5 goals to be scored. The two teams have met four times in the last ten years and three of those have gone under 2.5 goals

The Balkan side are unbeaten in their last seven competitive games and could produce a minor shock by scraping a draw in this one, correct score backers should side with a 1-1 stalemate.

Inter’s Davide Frattesi has been one of the standouts for Italy recently, netting the most goals in qualifying and he found the only goal in their win over Bosnia and Herzegovina in their last warm up match, take him to get on the scoresheet again here.