Italy vs Uruguay
There’s no such thing as a friendly between these two giants of world football, and when they meet at the Allianz Riviera in Nice on Wednesday, it’ll be no different.
Italy and Uruguay have met nine times, winning three each, and betting odds point to another tight affair. A home win is at 2.40, an away win at 3.00 and the draw at 3.00, so take your pick!
Under 2.25 goals is at 1.87 and that would have been a winner in eight of the previous nine clashes. So the safest football prediction to make is that there will be no quarter given.
And there’s plenty of bad blood between the teams, managed by the old war horses Gian Piero Ventura and Oscar Tabarez. In the 2014 World Cup, Uruguay striker Luis Suarez bit Giorgio Chiellini on the shoulder as the Italians exited in a bad-tempered clash. Suarez claimed, at the time, that things like that happen in football all the time.
Well, they do when you’re playing Luis!
In any case, with much of the Juventus backbone still licking its wounds after defeat in the Champions League final, Ventura may take the option to experiment and give Chiellini a rest. His team is in good form; with five wins in the last six – Daniele de Rossi and Ciro Immobile scoring in the latest victory against Albania – they sit joint top of Group G with Spain.
Uruguay come on the back of three qualifying defeats to Chile, Brazil and Peru, but Tabarez’ men are well placed to qualify from the South American group as they sit in third place after a strong campaign until the recent setbacks.
This will be worth a watch, after the pre-match handshakes are done!
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Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.
