Lithuania vs Italy
Italy have an opportunity to grab the solo lead in Group C when they fly over to the LFF Stadium at Vilnius on Wednesday evening.
The Azzurri are slated to take on Lithuania for their next World Cup 2022 qualifiers match in what should be an intriguing affair.
After winning two straight, Roberto Mancini’s men are currently level with Switzerland on top of their group with six points apiece.
Lithuania, meanwhile, are in the same boat as Northern Ireland and Bulgaria as all of them have yet to win or draw a single game.
The sense of urgency is there for the Rinktine to draw out a positive result since they don’t want to fall behind in Group C.
Last year, Valdas Urbonas’ side narrowly escaped relegation in the UEFA Nations League and they’ll be keen to build on that this time around.
The SBOTOP betting odds point the Azzurri as the heavy favourites in this match, making this fixture quite a daunting task for Lithuania to try and pull the upset.
Talking Points
Italy are off to a solid start
The Italians under Roberto Mancini are on a roll and they are relentless in their pursuit for European glory.
With him at the helm, Mancini has towed Italy to a 24-game unbeaten run and he can draw level with 2006 World Cup winner Marcelo Lippi’s record (25) if Italy stay undefeated after their game against Lithuania.
Italy are looking like genuine contenders given their torrid start in this tournament – knocking off Northern Ireland and Bulgaria in back-to-back 2-0 triumphs.
The two-headed monster of Andrea Belotti and Lorenzo Insigne has terrorised defences these past few days and they’ll be looking to unload more World Cup 2022 highlights in their next few matches.
But since this is a winnable game for Italy, Roberto Mancini has the option to give his other rotation players more playing time to gain more experience.
Stephan El Shaarawy and Federico Bernadeschi are both in contention to lead up front, while Federico Chiesa and Ciro Immobile are also expected to be featured too.
At the back, Mancini might plug in Rafael Toloi and Alessandro Bastoni to give rest to their older guys in Giorgio Chiellini and Leonardo Bonucci.
Marco Verratti, Lorenzo Pellegrini, Manuel Locatelli, and Matteo Pessina are all in line to start in the middle for the Azzurri.
Italy should dominate Group C and secure their progress to Qatar as they try to erase the painful memories of their early exit in 2018.
Lithuania are hungry for a victory
Valdas Urbonas’ boys will have their work cut out for them as they aim for their first qualifiers win since 2018 in Russia.
Lithuania’s campaign got off to a rocky start as they were humiliated by Kosovo in an international friendly and they lost their first World Cup 2022 qualifiers match.
But although they were defeated by Switzerland yesterday, Lithuania put up a valiant effort despite Xherdan Shaqiri’s game-winning goal during the second minute.
For this game, Urbonas is expected to keep the same starting XI with Fedor Cernych spearheading his team once again as their main striker.
Cernych has scored nine goals in 61 international appearances and he’ll be supported by Arvydas Novikovas out wide.
Their overburdened defence will be led by midfielder Domantas Simkus and full-back Saulius Mikoliunas.
History
Prior to Wednesday, Lithuania and Italy have faced each other in six games.
The Rinktine have never beaten the Azzurri in those six contests (W4, D2). In fact, the hosts have only scored once against their visitors.
Their last meeting dates back to the qualifying round of Euro 2008 where Italy won 2-0 in Kaunas. Prior to that, Lithuania held Italy to a 1-1 draw in Naples during the reverse fixture.
Betting Tip
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Lithuania vs Italy | Italy Asian Handicap -2.25 @ 1.88 |
| April 01, 02:45 (GMT+8) |
The World Cup 2022 odds are feeling pretty confident about Italy’s chances to win for this game.
The Azzurri are priced at 1.13 to win, while Lithuania are pegged way below them at 25.00 and a draw is at 6.60 in the 1X2 market.
Given Lithuania’s inferior attack compared to the Italians, expect Valdas Urbonas’ men to have a passive approach for this match as they’ll be in for a long night defensively.
Roberto Mancini’s group should bring home the three points with ease given their fantastic form, although it won’t be as high-scoring as you would expect.
A SHORT EXPLANATION ON HOW OUR ( ) BETS ARE WORTH: |
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|---|---|---|---|
| = €20 (Highly confident) |
 = €10 (CONFIDENT) |
= €5 (SOMEWHAT CONFIDENT) |
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Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.
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