Lithuania vs Italy Predictions and Betting Tips
Those with an affinity for sports betting with Betway have likely been disappointed with the performance of Italy’s national team in the previous editions of the World Cup. Next year, Gli Azzurri will have a chance to finally redeem themselves at the World Cup hosted by Qatar. There are still a few hurdles for the team to overcome - but their upcoming match doesn’t look like a hard one to win.
Lithuania vs Italy Preview
The Italian team has shown resolve to plough through their opponents this year, defeating the Northern Irish national team 2-0 and obtaining the same result against Bulgaria. The team has so far won both its matches. At the same time, Lithuania has only played one game so far which ended in a 1-0 loss to Switzerland.
Leonardo Bonucci and Giorgio Chiellini, two veteran defenders playing together at Juventus, represent an obstacle that will be hard to overcome. Roberto Mancini’s boys seem unstoppable: the team’s match against Bulgaria was the 24th in a row of unbeaten games - one more victory, and Mancini will match Marcello Lippi’s 25-game run of wins between 2004 and 2006.
Lithuania vs ItalyHistorical records
Lithuania and Italy have met on the turf several times in the past. Their first encounter was in a UEFA European Championship match in 1995, a game that ended with the Italian side’s victory. In total, Italy won four of the two teams’ encounters, and two matches ended in draws - Lithuania hasn’t defeated Italy in any matches so far.
The last time the two teams met, in a UEFA European Championship match in 2007, Italy defeated Lithuania 2-0.
Lithuania vs Italy Predictions
The Italian national team is, without a doubt, the absolute favourite of its group. On the other hand, Lithuania is an outsider team - it hasn’t qualified for any World Cup editions since 1994. While Lithuania did do well last year, winning four of its eight total matches, with the Azzurri, it now faces an opponent on a different level.
Bookmakers expect the upcoming match to be an easy win for Italy, considering even a draw highly unlikely. Italy is expected by them to score the first goal. Bookies also predict Italy to score more than one goal and consider it likely that Lithuania will not score at all.
Players to watch
Italy: 23-year-old Matteo Pessina is at his third cap for the Italian national team. The midfielder scored two goals in Atlanta’s 3-1 win against SSC Napoli in the Coppa Italia semi-final this February.
Lithuania: 30-year-old winger Arvydas Novikovas has played more than 60 international matches with the national team, scoring 12 times in the process.
