England vs Italy Betting Preview Euro 2024 Qualifying

The final day of Euro 2024 qualifying before the next international break brings a must-watch affair between England and Italy on Tuesday, a rematch of the Euro 2020 final. The kick-off is scheduled for 2:45 PM ET at Wembley Stadium in London. The Three Lions are coming off a 1-0 win over Australia in a friendly but mostly reserves played, which means we can expect a full-strength starting XI here. As for the Italians, they hammered Malta 4-0 on Saturday in qualifying. Below, we’ll lay out the head-to-head history between the two sides and preview the fixture.

Head-to-head

All-time, Italy holds the edge over England with 13 wins compared to the Three Lions’ nine. They’ve also played to nine draws. The Azzurri of course beat England in the Euro 2020 final at Wembley in penalties then famously missed out on making the World Cup only a year later. As for recent meetings, the English defeated Italy 2-1 on matchday one of qualifying way back in March behind goals from Declan Rice and Harry Kane.

England in good form

As expected, England looks well on their way to qualifying for Euro 2024 in Germany. The 2020 finalists are top of Group C with 13 points from five games, compiling a 4-1-0 record. Gareth Southgate’s men have bagged 16 goals and conceded just twice, putting their defensive solidity on full display.

They also head into this match in great form. The Three Lions haven’t tasted defeat since the World Cup quarterfinals last December when France bested them in Qatar, a span of seven games unbeaten. However, England will surely be in search of the full points here after settling for just one in their last qualifier in September, playing to a 1-1 draw with Ukraine.

Fully focused on Italy 😤 pic.twitter.com/HzeQgpmfDQ

— England (@England) October 15, 2023

But, there’s no shortage of confidence for this group, who are loaded with talent and honestly appear to be a stronger side than Italy at the moment. The number of in-form players within Southgate’s squad is impressive, most notably Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane. Both stars hit the back of the net in the side’s 3-1 victory over Scotland last week. England is a deserving -155 favorite at Bodog for Tuesday’s affair.

Very important game for Italy

This is a vital game for England, but it’s arguably even more important for the visitors. Italy is tied with Ukraine for second in Group C with 10 points but does have a game in hand. If the Azzurri can win by at least two goals on Tuesday, they would essentially book their spot in Euro 2024. Then if we look at the worst-case scenario, the Italians likely earn a play-off spot if they finish outside of the top two spots in the pod when qualifying is over.

Italy appears to be finding themselves over the last few months after a brutal spell that led to them missing out on the World Cup. Luciano Spalletti’s group of course just hammered Malta 4-0 behind a brace from Domenico Berardi while also beating Ukraine on matchday six in September, 2-1. The Euro 2020 winners have won three of their last four games and haven’t lost since the Nations League semifinals in June to Spain.

All eyes on Tuesday's clash 🦁👀#VivoAzzurro #Azzurri pic.twitter.com/1D7Wd4sfUK

— Italy ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (@Azzurri_En) October 15, 2023

But, the Italians did ultimately finish in third place, taking down a very strong Dutch outfit. Under Spalletti, they’re starting to hit their stride and will undoubtedly have fond memories when Tuesday rolls around. Wembley is where Italy tasted European glory when Roberto Mancini was the boss. Despite that, most soccer betting sites have them as an underdog against England.