Five-time winners 7/5 to book their place in the final
In the last nine renewals of this competition, the team known as the Azzurrini (the senior team are the Azzurri) have reached the final on five occasions. It’s a 7/5 chance (Paddy Power) that they beat Germany on Friday and make their sixth appearance within the last twenty years. Italy are also 12/5 (Coral) to win the European Under-21 Championships, something that they have done when reaching the final in 1992, 1994, 1996, 2000 and 2004. This is quite a stat, considering that the team naturally changes on a fairly regular basis. Will Germany be able to stop them in Helsingborg?
The Germans have been unconvincing up to now, although there’s something to be said for making progress despite not playing well. Centrebet offer 11/5 that they knock out their illustrious rivals, although a disappointing 1-1 draw with England in the last group game illustrated that this is a team with limitations. Their opponents rested virtually the entire first team and still manage to peg them back, so it might well be that they’re outclassed by Pierluigi Casiraghi’s talented team. Ladbrokes offer 13/10 about Italy -0.5 on the Asian Handicap market and it might not last until kick-off.
Italy have arguably the most potent strike partnership in the tournament, with Robert Acquafresca displaying all his class when bagging a brace against Belarus on Tuesday. Paddy Power go 6/1 that he breaks the deadlock, although preference is instead given to Mario Balotelli (7/1 Boylesports) who missed the final group game through suspension. The Inter striker was right to feel aggrieved about his red card against Sweden and looks the ticket (23/10 Boylesports) to score at any stage in the game.
Germany Under-21’s have never won this tournament before, although they’re 4/1 (Centrebet) to beat the Azzurrini and then take down England and Sweden in the final. If they are to make the Malmo showdown on Monday, they will have to nullify playmaker Sebastian Giovinco and it’s likely that they’ll try and keep things tight in defence. Victor Chandler offer 17/2 that no goals are scored during normal time, with Blue Square going 8/13 that there are two goals or less. The bookmakers seem to be of the opinion that there’s going to be a low goal count, so perhaps a small bet on Italy to win 1-0 (7/1 Stan James) is the way forward.