Italy are the European champions and it would be strange if we didn’t see the Azzurri lining up at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. The two teams clash at the Stadio Renzo Barbera in Palermo on 24 March 2022, with punters likely to put the home side in their World Cup accumulators and they will want to get a solid job done before preparing for a likely showdown in Porto a few days later.
Italy haven’t played since last November where they played out an underwhelming goalless draw away to Northern Ireland, with the Azzurri having previously been held by the Swiss and that isn’t the most convincing form coming into a clash where their opponents have nothing to lose from having a crack at their esteemed opponents.
Can North Macedonia Cause a Shock in Palermo?
North Macedonia have previously caused a stir when winning 2-1 away to Germany although that victory occurred in March 2021 when Joachim Low was coming to the end of his time with Die Mannschaft. The team then played at the delayed Euro 2020 and were beaten by Austria, Ukraine and Netherlands in the group stage and were probably the weakest team in the tournament.
Blagoja Milevski’s side have only lost one of their seven games since Euro 2020 although that was a 4-0 hammering at home to Germany and there’s a feeling that they might be susceptible against an Italy side who fall into the elite bracket, with Ciro Immobile, Lorenzo Insigne, Leonardo Bonucci and Giorgio Chiellini having been among the heroes of those Wembley triumphs last summer.
However, there is no pressure on the outsiders and the World Cup betting odds indicates that you can get odds as big as 16/1 that North Macedonia cause a massive shock, while you can also get a big price that the game ends in a draw. It’s noticeable that Italy have been short of goals in the some of the previous encounters.
The same doesn’t apply to their opponents who scored a 5-0 win away to Armenia before enjoying a 3-1 win over Iceland, with Elif Elmas one of the class operators in the team and the Napoli forward will be well known by many of his opponents that will be lining up against him.
What Are the Best Bets for Italy v North Macedonia?
Naturally, you might not get too rich backing Italy on the Full-Time Result betting market, although we can be fairly confident that the home side can enjoy a bloodless victory. Therefore, you can combine an Azzurri win with the both teams to score market where you can select the “No” option.
There is the opportunity to bet on Italy to win 1-0 or 2-0 and we think that you can head to the correct score market and back both of these options. Ultimately, Mancini’s side will want to make sure that they get the defensive basics right and there won’t be a huge amount of ambition to go out in search of more goals once the margin has been established.