Mancini to repair Italy’s defensive foundations

Bulgarian blip

Mancini’s European Champions go to Switzerland off the back of a shock 1-1 draw against Bulgaria on Thursday in Florence, a game in which the Italian backline was breached after a defensive error. This is rare for Italy. Very rare indeed. Their defensive foundations are ultimately what lead them to being crowned European Champions back in July. With conceding to lowly Bulgaria looking to be a one-off mistake, I’d be backing Italy to put up their guard and defend superbly on Sunday against Switzerland. The Swiss come into this off the back of a 2-1 friendly win against Greece, the first match that new boss Murat Yakin was in the dugout for.

Switzerland short-staffed

Switzerland are shorthanded in attack that’s for sure. Arguably their three main attacking threats in Breel Embolo, Xherdan Shaqiri and Mario Gavranovic are all out due to injury. This leaves the Swiss front line in the hands of Haris Seferovic and not a whole lot in terms of international experience left. Combine this with Italy’s willingness to bounce back from their draw with Bulgaria, and I can see the Italians putting this Swiss side to the sword come Sunday. The Azzurri are still 35 games without loss, and with Switzerland losing 3-0 to Mancini’s side this summer at the Euros, the visitors will already have the mental upper hand on their weakened opponents. Despite Switzerland not being an easy place to go and take a positive result from, with many international powerhouses struggling when on their travels here, I can only see Italy showing why they’re Europe’s top dogs and bouncing back with a statement to the rest of Group C and convincingly taking all three points.

Getting a grip of Group C

With a win here, Italy have a chance to put some real daylight between themselves and the rest of the chasing pack. But if Switzerland were to get a perfect start to competitive life under Yakin and beat the European Champions, the gap could close to just one point between these two sides at the top of the group. Italy will be looking to starboy Federico Chiesa for some more attacking inspiration, with his goal initially putting them ahead vs Bulgaria.

While Italy haven’t got back to winning ways in their Euro 2020 hangover just yet, this game against an undermanned Switzerland side looks like the perfect opportunity to reassert their dominance. That’s why I’m taking Italy to win to nil with bet365.

Bet Italy to Win to Nil on Bet365