Turkey faces Italy at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome in the opening game of Euro 2020 on June 11. Let’s see what we can tell you about this match in today’s soccer predictions online.
Turkey returns to the European Championship after their previous appearance in 2016. Five years ago, the Crescent-Stars achieved one win but also lost twice in France and didn’t reach the knockout phase of the competition. Now they are determined to do much better and impress their fans.
At this moment, Turkey is managed by the 68-years old Senol Gunes – one of the most respected and experienced coaches in Turkish football. Gunes is coaching Turkey for a second time after his stint between 2000 and 2004. He’s the manager who achieved the most significant success in the history of Turkish football when he coached the team to third place in the World Cup 2002. In the last five years, he was also managing club-level and led Besiktas to two titles in the Turkish Super Lig.
In 2021 so far, Turkey played four matches and made some great performances with winning three of them and making one draw. The Crescent-Stars are unbeaten since the beginning of the year, giving them better confidence before facing a team like Italy.
During the qualifying campaign for World Cup 2022, Turkey made two awe-inspiring performances. Senol Gunes’ team recorded two majestic wins against Netherlands and Norway, scoring seven goals in the process. They were disappointed in their third one, though – they faced Latvia at home, and we all expected a win, but the match in Istanbul ended with a 3-3 draw. It was a bit of a surprising result.
Most of Turkey’s players are currently playing in the Turkish Super Lig, but they have some players playing abroad as well. One of the team’s most prominent leaders is Leicester City’s center-back Caglar Soyuncu, while Lille’s Zeki Celik and Yusuf Yazici just became champions of the French Ligue 1. Liverpool’s Ozan Kabak, Sassuolo’s Mert Muldur, Juventus’ Merih Demiral, Milan’s Hakan Calhanoglu, Leicester’s Cengiz Under, and Getafe’s Enes Unal could be important figures for Turkey at the Euro 2020 as well.
We should give special attention to the captain and leading striker of the team Burak Yilmaz. The 35-years old veteran was instrumental for Lille’s title in the Ligue 1 as he scored 16 goals for the Dogs during the campaign. He’s arguably going to be one of Turkey’s most dangerous players at the Euro.
Italy will fight to win their second European title in their history. So far, the Azzurri have managed to win the trophy just once – in 1968. Now they are fired up to get their hands on this beautiful cup again.
Italy sensationally didn’t qualify for the previous World Cup in Russia, but they are reborn under the clever management of Roberto Mancini. Manchester City’s ex-manager successfully brought the confidence back to the players and found a way to inspire them properly.
Italy is in good shape in 2021, and we can see that by their results so far. The Azzurri won all of their four matches since the beginning of the season, including three of them being World Cup qualifiers. Mancini’s boys achieved significant wins against Northern Ireland, Bulgaria, and Lithuania. Lately, they enjoyed a solid 7-0 against San Marino in a friendly game as well.
It seems that Italy’s defense is working well as they have not conceded a single goal in their last seven matches. This is impressive because it’s a really long time keeping clean sheets. Mancini can be happy with the way his defenders are performing.
Roberto Mancini already announced his provisional 28-man squad for the Euro 2021. Just like any other time, there are some surprises. PSG’s striker Moise Kean was not called up for the competition, although it was thought he would be a third-choice striker behind Ciro Immobile and Andrea Belotti. Sassuolo’s Domenico Berardi and Napoli’s Matteo Politano got called up, but Mancini could cut them as this is just the provisional squad.
As we said, Italy achieved a 7-0 win over San Marino in their last friendly game up to date, although we doubt anyone’s surprised by this. Matteo Politano and Atalanta’s Matteo Pessina scored braces for the Azzurri while Bernardeschi, Ferrari, and Belotti scored for the Italian team as well.
Italy is aiming to win their first trophy since 2002 when they triumphed with their fourth World Cup. In 2012 the Azzurri reached the final of the European Championship in Ukraine and Poland, but they suffered a heavy defeat against reigning champions Spain at the final.
What makes Italy one of the favorites at the Euro 2020 is their brilliant shape since the arrival of Roberto Mancini as head coach. During this time, Mancini proved to be one of the best coaches in the world. The Azzurri had some bad performances in recent years, and they even missed qualifying for the last World Cup, but now they are getting ready to show their true value.
At the same time, they must be aware that Turkey is not a team to be underestimated – their results since the beginning of 2021 are proving it. One of this team’s significant strengths is their defense, where they have players such as Caglar Soyuncu, Merih Demiral, Ozan Kabak, and Zeki Celik. This gives the Crescent-Stars confidence they can deal with any attack which is against them on the field. No matter if it’s Italy or someone else.
That’s our soccer predictions online for the Euro 2020 opener between Turkey and Italy at the Stadio Olimpico. There’s no doubt Italy is the favorites to take the win here, but Turkey is a dangerous team that is strong enough to cause an upset. Who knows – maybe this European Championship could start with a surprise? We shall see about that. The Turkish side already secured wins against solid opponents as Netherlands and Norway in 2021, so they indeed have enough confidence to do the job.