Italy U20 vs Poland U20 Betting Pick | International

International

2019-06-02 - Italy U20 vs Poland U20

A Sports Betting Pick by Auls

Italy Under 20 v Poland Under 20
Football: FIFA Under 20 World Cup 2019 Second Round
Sunday 2nd June 2019 - Kick Off 4:30pm (British Time)
This game is live on TV

Preview

The Group Stage at the FIFA Under 20 World Cup Finals have been completed and now the path to the title has been laid out for the sixteen nations that are still competing in Poland. One of those is the hosts Poland Under 20 who worked their way through to the Knock Out Rounds by finishing as one of the best third placed teams in the Group Stage.

They are facing Group B Winners Italy Under 20 in the Second Round who have produced form that was not really evident when heading into the World Cup Finals. Italy were able to beat Mexico Under 20 and Ecuador Under 20 before playing out a convenient draw with Japan Under 20 to make it out of their Group as the Winners, but it is always a big ask facing a host of any international tournament.

One thing the players have to be aware of is that they are going to be playing in front of the biggest crowd they would have seen in the Finals so far. It can change the perception of a game and the mentality of the players is also going to be challenged with more eyes on their performances.

There haven't been a lot of goals scored by Italy, but back to back clean sheets can give them the foundation to have a successful Knock Out campaign. The Italians did not play well in the UEFA Elite League either which suggested they could be vulnerable in the World Cup, but their sole win in the Elite League was a 0-3 win in Poland and that has to be a real shot in the arm for the players.

Poland lost their opening Group game to Colombia Under 20, but a comfortable win over Tahiti Under 20 and a draw with Senegal Under 20 was enough to take them out of the first stage. A lack of goals is a concern for Poland considering they didn't score against the two other nations that have made it through to the Second Round, while this is a team who managed just 7 goals in 7 Elite League games.

They have just struggled in the final third in this tournament too with limited chances being created, although Poland will be aware that the Italians are not exactly overpowering teams. Both will be looking to have a strong showing defensively to ensure that a single goal may be enough to carry them through to the Quarter Final, and I would not be surprised at all if a single goal was enough to provide a winner.

My feeling is that Italy have been the superior team of the two and they have been able to work their out of a tougher Group than the hosts. Being at home will make Poland dangerous, but they have already been seen off by Colombia in the Group Stage and Italy winning a Elite League fixture in Poland last year will give this team plenty of belief.

I can't imagine we will see a lot of goals, but Italy have shown they can be clinical with the chances that come their way. I would expect them to have the majority of them in this Second Round fixture and the Italians have shown toughness defensively which can see them edge out the hosts in normal time.

Prediction

Hosting the Under 20 World Cup Finals is an honour for Poland, but their Under 20 team may not be around to enjoy the tournament for too much longer.

They came out of a relatively weak Group and now face an Italy Under 20 team who won their own section which looked considerably tougher. Italy don't score a lot of goals, but they won 0-3 here in Poland in the UEFA Elite League and I think they have enough at both ends of the field to edge out the hosts.