Italy -21 vs Norway -21 Prediction & Betting Tips - Euro U21

Prediction published on 26/06/2023, 13:52  by Kennedy Kechula in Football Predictions

Italy will seek to qualify for the knockout rounds of the Euro U21 Championships when they face Norway on Wednesday. After two rounds of play, Italy sit second in Group D while Norway are fourth. Italy battled to win a five-goal thriller with their counterparts from Switzerland in their last match. This secured their first win in the tournament after they had lost 2-1 to already-qualified France on matchday one. They now have to win this match against Norway if they are to make it to the quarterfinals. Gli Azzurini are the joint most successful team in the Euros alongside Spain with five titles. They however last won the competition in 2004 and will hope to end the drought this year. Italy and Norway have played to similar 1-1 scorelines in their past two encounters. The last was a friendly that they hosted in 2018.

Norway have already been eliminated from the competition and will be playing for pride here. They have lost both their matches in the group. After falling 2-1 to Switzerland in their first match, Leif Gunnar Smerud’s charges lost by a solitary goal to France last time out. The loss took their wait for a win to six matches now with four of those games ending in defeat. A lack of firepower upfront has precipitated this slump as in those six matches, they have managed only two goals. Norway were making their third appearance at this year’s championship and this is the first time they have failed to make the knockout rounds. In their previous two tournaments, 1998 and 2013, they made it to the semifinals.