On Thursday 15th June, at 7.45 pm BST, Italy will play Spain in the second Semi-final of the UEFA Nations League. At the time of writing, we’re unaware as to which of the Netherlands or Croatia have made the Final but all four teams will know that they have it in them to win this event. It’s quite rare that you can honestly say that in a tournament. Italy and Spain are two of the biggest names in international football. I give my full football betting tips for the powerhouse tussle below.
Euro 2020 Winners Fully Rested
The Nations League Finals haven’t been active since the 2020/2021 season when France won it. Italy won their group in that competition and then lost out in the Semi-Finals. Ironically, that defeat came to Spain by a 2-1 result in Milan. In this edition’s Nations League, Italy once again topped their group. In a group which featured England, Germany, and Hungary, it was actually Hungary that got nearest to them.
Italy didn’t compete in the 2022 World Cup but they’ve had a couple of friendly matches. Wins against Hungary and Albania and a loss to Austria. After beating England in the Nations League, they lost to England in a Euro 2024 qualifier 2-1 before more recently beating Malta 2-0 in another Euro 2024 qualifier.
Italy can be a very hit-and-miss team. However, they are known to be a good knock-out team and they will give Spain issues in this match.
Are Spain in a State of Decline?
Spain have been horrendous for a while now, in my opinion. Let’s start with the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Whilst the two semi-finalists from the other fixture have had a good World Cup with both reaching the latter knock-out stages and losing to eventual champions, Argentina, Spain managed just 1 win from their 3 group matches. They lost to Japan 2-1, thrashed Costa Rica 7-0 and then managed to scrape a 1-1 draw with Germany to go through on goal difference. In the knockout stages, they were then beaten by Morocco on penalties in the last 16.
Since that quick World Cup exit, Spain have played two Euro 2024 qualification matches. They beat Norway 3-0 but then lost 2-0 to Scotland. All in all, if we look back at Spain’s last 5 matches in world football then we’ll see that they have won just once beating Norway. Although there is a wealth of talent still in the Spanish team, it doesn’t seem to be playing like it recently and I think they could be vulnerable.
Head-to-Head Meetings
In the last 6 meetings between the two nations, there have been 2 draws, 2 wins for Spain and 2 wins for Italy. The last 2 matches were in 2021. Spain beat Italy 2-1 in the Nations League as mentioned and, prior to that, Italy beat Spain in the Euro 2020 tournament 4-2 on penalties, after a 1-1 draw. They would go on to win that tournament.
Italy vs Spain Betting Tips
I like both teams scoring in this match. It’s happened in 4 of the last 6 head-to-head matches and we’ve seen both teams concede to poor teams recently. I’m also inclined to give Italy a shot in this one. I’ll take a chance on BTTS and Italy winning.
Both Teams to Score @ 8/11 with Bet365 bonus code
Italy to Win and BTTS @ 13/2 with Bet365
All odds are correct at the time of writing.
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