Italy v Austria betting tips: Impressive Azzurri head to Wembley

Preview and odds for the last-16 match

Italy leave Rome for the first time at Euro 2020 and now play the first of what they hope will be three matches at Wembley as we pick out some Italy v Austria betting tips.

The Azzurri were arguably the best team during the group stage and are now the second favourites in the Euro 2020 winner odds while Austria were runners-up behind the Netherlands in Group C.

Saturday’s match is live on BBC One and kicks off at 8pm, with the winners going through to face Belgium or Portugal.

Italy v Austria match odds

Italy could not have made a better start to the Euros as they cruised through as Group A winners with nine points, seven goals and three clean sheets.

They established themselves as one of the tournament favourites by overwhelming Turkey and Switzerland, two 3-0 wins making it 10 successive victories by the margin of 31-0.

Manager Roberto Mancini then had the luxury of rotating his squad for the final group game and made eight changes. Leonardo Bonucci took over the captaincy from the injured Giorgio Chiellini and Marco Verratti made his first appearance of the tournament after injury.

Italy still proved too strong for Wales as Matteo Pessina scored the 39th-minute winner and Italy have now equalled their national record of 30 games unbeaten.

It is little surprise therefore that Italy are 2/9 to get past Austria and 8/15 for victory in 90 minutes while yet another win to nil is 6/5 as they head to Wembley – the scheduled venue for the semi-finals and final.

Austria are appearing in the knockout stages of the European Championship for the first time after Christoph Baumgartner’s goal secured a 1-0 win over Ukraine in Bucharest.

Baumgartner produced what proved the decisive moment with a 21st-minute finish as Franco Foda’s men leapfrogged their opponents to claim second spot in Group C.

Looking ahead to the Wembley showdown, Foda said: “It looks like the task is a very difficult one because Italy hasn’t lost in a while.

“But at some point you will lose a match and if we act and perform like today I think we have our options against Italy. We know how they play, we will find solutions and in one match everything is possible.”

Austria are 16/5 to cause an upset and 6/1 to win in normal time but have failed to score in four of their last six games.

A 4-0 defeat at home to Denmark in World Cup qualifying in March highlighted their limitations while they were beaten 2-0 by the Netherlands in their second group game when Austria only managed one shot on target.

Italy are 29/20 to be leading at both half-time and full-time or 31/20 is on offer for Italy to win by more than one goal.

Italy v Austria head-to-head

Austria have never beaten Italy in five attempts, with the first four of those coming at World Cup finals where the Azzurri came out on top every time.

The last competitive meeting was at the 1998 World Cup when second-half goals from Christian Vieri and Roberto Baggio helped Italy to a 2-1 win despite Andreas Herzog’s stoppage-time penalty.

Austria did at least avoid defeat against Italy for the first time in the most recent meeting, with a friendly in Italy in August 2008 ending in a 2-2 draw.

Previous XI

Italy: Donnarumma, Emerson, Bonucci, Bastoni, Toloi, Verratti, Jorginho, Pessina, Belotti, Chiesa, Bernardeschi.

Austria: Bachmann, Dragovic, Hinteregger, Alaba, Lainer, Sabitzer, Grillitsch, Baumgartner, Schlager, Laimer, Arnautovic.

Key battles

Italy’s star men should return feeling refreshed and ready to go after being rested against Wales.

Ciro Immobile is a contender for the Euro 2020 golden boot after scoring in Italy’s first two games and will be looking to add to his tally, helped by the support he has received from Lorenzo Insigne and Domenico Berardi, who has provided two assists.

A well-organised defence is shielded by Chelsea midfielder Jorginho so Austria may need Marko Arnautovic to produce a moment of magic if they are to finally end Italy’s perfect defensive record.

View the latest Euro 2020 odds

All odds and markets correct as of date of publication