Turkey vs. Italy: preview and betting tips

Turkey and Italy kick off this year’s European Football Championship. These two teams will be joined in Group A by Switzerland and Wales. Mancini’s men are the clear favourites, but it does not pay to underestimate the Turks.

Turkey is one of the few teams to have even managed three friendlies before the tournament. A 2-1 win over Azerbaijan was followed by a goalless draw with Guinea and finally a 2-0 win over Moldova with a full squad.

Italy will be the favourite in Group A. They have been in great spirits for the tournament, winning both preliminary matches and not scoring once. First, they crushed San Marino 7:0, and in the dress rehearsal they gave the Czech Republic a four.

Burak Yilmaz, the author of sixteen goals and five assists for Lille, will be the Turkish forward. The midfielder Okay Yokuslu, defender Caglar Syoncu and offensive all-rounder Hakan Calhanoglu have also had an excellent season.

The mainstay of the Italians is Lorenzo Insigne, the Napoli winger has scored eighteen goals and assisted seven times in the league this season. Ciro Immobile of Lazio Roma has a similar record of 20+7.

The Turks have gone to four European Championships so far, losing their opening match each time. They will try to end that streak on Friday.

It is the Italians who have been successful at the Euros and World Cups for a long time and are going into the summer tournament in incredible form. They haven’t scored a goal in seven games, and they’ve won all of them.

Given Italy’s good form and especially their defence, I think they will win the game while conceding a maximum of four goals.