Defending Champions Open Versus Albania
Italy vs Albania Odds Moderately in Former's Side
Albania Huge Underdogs in Group B
Italy won their second European Championship a few years ago, when they defeated England in the Euro 2020 Final in penalties. Now, under new coach Luciano Spalletti, Italy will look to defend their title. In a brutal group, with Spain and Croatia, Italy will open up with what’s theoretically their easiest match. On Saturday, Italy take on Albania, who had a surprising qualifying campaign. Albania are +2500 underdogs to win Euro 2024 Group B but they have nothing to lose. Ahead of this Group B opener, we’ll preview the match and the Italy vs Albania odds.
Italy vs Albania
Stream: Italy (0-0-0), Albania (0-0-0)
Date. Time: Saturday, June 15th, 3:00 p.m. ET
Location: Signal Iduna Park, Dortmund, Germany
Stream: Fox Sports
Italy vs Albania Head-to-Head
All four of Italy and Albania’s meetings have come in the last 10 years. The Azzurri are a perfect 4-0 vs. Albania and these teams last met in 2022, when Italy picked up a 3-1 win in a friendly. The pregame Italy vs Albania odds listed Italy as -145 favorites. In the two competitive matches these sides have played, Albania have failed to score a goal.
Defensive Personnel Concerns for Italy
Both Giorgio Scalvini and Francesco Acerbi had to pull out of Italy’s Euro 2024 squad with injuries. Acerbi likely would have been the lynchpin in Italy’s defensive structure and he had an excellent campaign with Inter Milan. It may affect how far some people think Italy will go on their UEFA Euro brackets but Spalletti still has plenty of capable defenders.
He may trot out a back four, with Giovanni Di Lorenzo, Gianluca Mancini, Alessandro Bastoni and Federico Dimarco. Jorginho and Nicolo Barella will still be key midfielders for Italy. Meanwhile, Federico Chiesa, who scored some key goals at Euro 2020, will be relied upon. Davide Frattesi projects as a super sub, while Gianluca Scamacca is likely to lead the line. As Spalletti didn’t call up Ciro Immobile, Scamacca has big shoulders to fill but he had an excellent campaign with Atalanta.
Italy finished in second place in the Group C UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying standings behind England. They went just 4-2-2 but the Azzurri are on a six-match unbeaten streak heading into the Euros. They’ve also kept three clean sheets in a row and keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma was voted Euro 2020’s Player of the Tournament.
Albania Top Group With Poland, Czech Republic
Albania’s presence at Euro 2024 certainly comes as a surprise. They are the second-lowest ranked team at the tournament and are making just their second appearance at a major tournament. Eight years ago, at Euro 2016, Albania went 1-2 and this roster is almost completely different. Inter Milan midfielder Kristjan Asllani will have to step up for a side that sometimes lacks creativity.
Still, Albania did manage to top a group in qualifiers that also contained the Czech Republic and Poland. Jasir Asani, who plays his club football in South Korea, led the way with three goals and two assists in qualifiers. Rey Manaj also scored 18 goals for Sivasspor this season and Albania has Chelsea player Armando Broja as another option.
In defense, there are some solid players like Ivan Balliu, Elseid Hysaj, Marash Kumbulla, and Berat Djimsiti. Djimsiti recently captained Atalanta to the Europa League title and he’ll certainly be familiar with his club teammate Scamacca. It could take just one win to advance to the knockout stage for Albania and they’ll try their luck.
Italy vs Albania Match Analysis & Odds
It’s hard to know what to expect from both teams, especially playing in such a difficult group. Even though Italy’s squad appears weaker than the one that won Euro 2020, they should be able to get the job done here. Still, Albania can pull off a shock result.
In any case, the Italy vs Albania odds price the Azzurri as -265 favorites for Saturday’s match. Bettors can also take Italy -1, -1.5 at -105. Albania, 0-4 all-time vs. Italy, are +750 underdogs. It’ll be a struggle for Albania to get on the scoresheet and Italy have long prided themselves on defense.
A draw is priced at +360 odds and Albania would be thrilled to take a point off of the defending champions. Albania +1, +1.5 displays -110 UEFA Euro soccer odds as Italy have won their last two opening matches at European Championships. Under 2.5 goals sits at -125 as we wouldn’t be surprised to see a clean sheet for Italy here.
