Defending champions Italy welcome Albania for their first match in Group B of the UEFA Europa League. Italy is known for their solid defense, and this is no exception. In the matches before the final week, they kept their goal unbeaten in 5 consecutive games, with a total of no more than 2 goals. If they can maintain this advantage, a narrow win is a foregone conclusion, so it's safer to go with a goal difference of under 2.5 goals. (Now 618 Sunday morning at 3:00 am in the exciting live stream)
However, Italy's slightly thin forward lineup, with limited ability to capitalize on chances from star arrow Schickamarca, and a lack of speedy players in the attacking line, often seem outmatched against deadly opponents. In the last two warm-up matches, a 0-0 draw against Turkey and a narrow 1-0 win against Bosnia exposed this weakness. Of course, Italy's defensive discipline is not to be questioned, and a win is expected in this match, but a big win is unlikely.
At the same time, Albania is aware of their limited strength and will go all out on defense. They are deeply influenced by Italian soccer and attach great importance to defense. Defensive players in the team, such as Di Zhanshi, Hirshaj, Ismayil, etc., have had good performance in Serie A. In the 8 matches of the Europa League qualifying, 6 of them had no more than 2 goals in total. In the 8 matches of the Europa League qualifiers, Albania scored less than 2 goals in 6 matches, and their success in qualifying for the final week is based on their solid defense. Therefore, it seems wiser to go for under 2.5 goals as a betting strategy for this match.
