Italy vs North Macedonia: Italy in the final of play-offs

The Italian national team is probably the most unpleasant opponent at the stage of the World Cup 2022 play-offs. It’s fair to say the Balkans have had some bad luck with the lot. Not only will the national team from Northern Macedonia have to play the European champions, but they will do so on the field of the Squadra Azzurra in Palermo.

With a few rounds to go in the 2022 World Cup group stage, few would have bet money that the Swiss would beat the Squadra. However, they finished very strongly in that tournament, beating the Lithuanians and Bulgarians 4-0 each, handily beating Northern Ireland 2-0 and not losing to Italy at the Olimpico. While the Italians not only conceded two points in a match against a direct rival in their capital, but also failed to beat Northern Ireland in Belfast, that match ending in a 0-0 draw. As a result, Italy finished two points behind the Swiss side instead of a top spot in Group C, and now have to play a tie for the right to play in the Mundial in Qatar. Italy have only managed two home wins in their four games at the 2022 World Cup, beating Northern Ireland 2-0 and Lithuania 5-0 to win the title with two draws. Three of their four matches have ended via Total Under (2.5).

The North Macedonian national team had another strong tournament. This time the Balkans beat Liechtenstein, Iceland, Armenia and Romania, losing only to Germany. A decent performance by a not at all top-flight national team. In 10 games, the Balkans scored 18 points, one point ahead of the Romanians, and 6 points ahead of the Armenians. By the way, the national team of Northern Macedonia has beaten the German national team 2:1 away in the World Cup 2022 qualifying tournament, and in many respects because of this victory, they left the Romanian national team behind in the table. Apart from the victory over the Germans, the Macedonians lost to the Romanians, played a draw with the Icelanders, and beat Liechtenstein and Armenia. The Northern Macedonian national team has scored 23 goals in the 10 matches of the selection, noting the high performance of the future guests.

After their recent Nations League play-off failure, Italy have played two World Cup 2022 qualifying matches, both of which ended via Total Under (2.5). That hints at a high chance of an unsuccessful finish, but we’ll also remember that not only Italy but also North Macedonia play on the sidelines, and their attacking credo. The Balkans have even scored twice for the Germans, as well as Romania and Iceland, once each for the Ukrainians and Austrians, four times for Liechtenstein and five times for Armenia. We will not be surprised if Italy also score in Palermo. Our first bet at the upcoming game is W1+TO (2.5) for 1.76.

With the second bet, we continue the probable upper direction of the match Italy - Northern Macedonia with another combined option. After Euro 2020, the Italian national team has been sagging defensively, as we can see from the statistics of Squadra. And the North Macedonian attack has surprised not only in games against mediocre teams but also in games against top teams. So we shouldn’t be surprised if the Balkans score against Italy on Thursday. W1+Both teams to score for 3.60.

As usual, the third bet is an option on the correct score. In the Italy vs North Macedonia pairing, we opt for a 2-1 result for Italy for 9.00.

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