Italy and England continue their long history of rivalry when Gareth Southgate's boys travel to Southern Italy for their first game of the International break. This is another crucial game for both teams and the hosts in particular would be on their toes after missing out on the last international tournament. I'm confident that Italy can get the job done over England once again, hence my preferred pick of a home win or draw. Here's why you should back Italy to win or draw;
Italy is playing at home and this is a big fortress for them, I don't see them losing to the English team. Roberto Mancini's side were on a very long unbeaten run at home till the defeats against Argentina and North Macedonia. Only the result against North Macedonia was surprising but they have quickly recovered from that loss with very strong performances at home. Less than six months ago, England became the latest victim of the Italian national team when they visited the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza back in September, losing one nil courtesy of a second half strike from Giacomo Raspedori. Interestingly, England's form away from home is very poor and the Three Lions have not won any one of their last three away games, losing twice. I see the Italians edging this out on home soil and we should see an Italy win or draw.
England is experiencing one of their worst phases ever and unlike France who won the last edition of the European Championship, England has been underwhelming and it is evident in their results. In the last ten games, the only wins for Gareth Southgate's team were against Iran, Wales, and Senegal. These are games where the opposition were mostly average and whenever they faced a team in the top 10, England always struggled. In the last decade, England has never beaten Italy in a competitive game and the Italians are enjoying a good run against the Englishmen. I expect that to continue with the Italians looking sharper, and I'm going with the home win or draw bet on this one.
