Italy versus Turkey. Euro 2020

Group A.

The European Championship 2020 kicks off tonight with the match between Italy and Turkey at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome tonight at 8:00 pm.

Italy and Turkey are battling in Group A of the European Championships. For my predictions on Group A go to European Championship 2020 Group Predictions.

Italy have been unbeaten since September 2018 and they have won their last eight internationals in a row. 22 of the squad are based in Serie A which had a poor season in the Champions League with no quarter finalists from Italy this season. Champions League winners, Chelsea have two Italian players, Jorginho and Emerson (Emerson is a reserve player at Chelsea who has only managed 32 league appearances over four seasons)Emerson Palmieri – Wikipedia. Italy also have two PSG players in right back Florenzi and deep lying playmaker, Marco Verratti. These are two good players.

Turkey can possibly beat Italy, but recent results indicate a team that is not consistent. Turkey can beat Netherlands, and Norway and still draw at home to Latvia.

Turkey have some good players like Caglar Soyunchu, solid Leicester City centre back, three of their players played a role in Lille’s surprise title win in France (veteran striker Burak Yilmaz scored 16 goals). Other Premiership players include Ozan Kabak, who was a short-term for Liverpool, but was not retained by Liverpool, and Okay Yokuslu and Cenghiz Under, none of whom stood out for the clubs this season.

Verdict: Italy to win 2-1. Italy have talked of as a dark horse to win the European Championship this year. Italy’s form going into the tournament has being outstanding, winning all ten of their qualifying matches, winning their Nations League group and are currently unbeaten for a period of almost three years. I have tipped Italy to win Group A and Turkey to finish second in Group A.

(C). Ferdia O’Mahony 2021.