Italy and England are betting favourites to secure the qualifying berths for Euro 2024, with Ukraine, North Macedonia and Malta the other sides who are going to be lining up in Group C, with the Azzurri and Three Lions clashing on 23 March where Roberto Mancini’s team have home advantage following their failure to qualify for the World Cup.
It’s been a strange time for Mancini who previously steered Italy to a European Championship victory and this was actually achieved by beating England in the final. The teams are well acquainted after meeting in the Nations League recently, with Italy trading as betting favourites and many will be looking to get with the home side.
After all, the Three Lions were in poor form ahead of the 2022 World Cup and there wasn’t a huge amount to love about their overall performances, with France edging out England in the quarter finals. Gareth Southgate might be approaching the end of his time at the top level, although Jude Bellingham and Bukayo Saka are two of the exciting talents on show.
Neither side will want their qualifying to ensure a losing start and that could see a low-scoring clash which brings the draw into play. It’s hard to read too much into Italy’s form considering the last time they played was 20 November 2022 when they lost 2-0 away to Austria, although the two teams played out a low-scoring clash in Milan on 23 September which the Italians won by a single goal.