The Scout: EURO 2020 Final

Posted on July 9, 2021July 9, 2021 | Posted by The Scout

Italy vs England

What a final we’re presented with to conclude EURO 2020!

England will be shooting for their first major tournament victory in 55 years, and get to do so in front of their home fans at Wembley Stadium. Italy too have a European Championship drought, dating back to 1968, but of course won the World Cup as recently as 2006.

Gareth Southgate has led England into an exciting new era, with a young squad that is deep, loaded with talent, and largely free of the burdens and heavy expectations felt by previous English squads. In their semi-final against Denmark, they went down 1-0 after 30 minutes, levelled nine minutes later, with captain Harry Kane scoring in extra-time to book a spot in this match.

Italy have had the harder road to the final, going through Belgium in the round of 16, and then Spain in the semi-finals. Penalties were required to split the deadlock against Spain, the win taking Italy’s unbeaten streak to a staggering 33 games. They had just 29% of possession in that match, and came close to winning in regular time, proving they don’t need a lot of the ball to hurt their opponent.

Both of these sides have been incredible defensively all tournament, with England conceding just once in their six games, and Italy only three times. That said, I’m not expecting this to be a dull encounter, and I think we will see multiple goals scored. Neither of these teams have lost a match, and picking a winner after 90 minutes is made even more difficult given both semi-finals ended 1-1 after regular time. 

For England, Harry Kane (4 goals) and Raheem Sterling (3 goals) will again be the most dangerous players. Sterling was unlucky not to be credited with England’s opener against Denmark and won the penalty that won that same game. At the start of the tournament it was Sterling who sparked his country into life when others were struggling. His lightning runs into the box have been a feature and I expect we’ll see the same again here.

There could not be two more evenly matched sides competing in this final. Italy have been brilliant from day one of the tournament, but ultimately I think it’s England, spurred on by their home fans, who will be lifting the EURO 2020 trophy.

SUGGESTED BET: England to Lift the Trophy @ $1.83*

SUGGESTED BET: Both Teams to Score @ $2.10*

SUGGESTED BET: Raheem Sterling Anytime Goalscorer @ $3.70*

*Odds correct as at 10am, 9th July 2021.

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