Estonia vs Italy prediction: EUROPE: World Cup – Qualification betting tips on match 2025-10-10 18:45.
[p]Back-to-back victories under new manager Gennaro Gattuso breathed new life into Italy’s 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying (WCQ) bid, which they need to back up on this trip to Estonia.[/p]
[p]Match News and Current Form[/p]
[p]September did not bring much joy to Estonia, whose WCQ bid was dented by a heavy 5-0 loss to Italy, before a goalless draw in a friendly against Andorra stretched their scoreless run to three matches. Qualifying for a first-ever major tournament therefore looks beyond their reach given that the Blueshirts have won only two of their last 12 matches (D2, L8), while they’ve netted just once across a four-game winless home run (D1, L3).[/p]
[p]A World Cup winner as a player in 2006, Gennaro Gattuso made the perfect start to his spell in charge of Italy, winning both matches while scoring exactly five goals each time. The Azzurri trail group leaders Norway by six points having played a game fewer, so they’ll retain hope they can catch them and avoid a play-off, as they’ve been beaten at that stage to miss out on the last two World Cups. Italy will therefore be eager to improve on the road as they’ve conceded a whopping seven goals across their two WCQ away games in this cycle (W1, L1), although the reverse to Norway is their only away loss since October 2023 (W4, D2).[/p]
[p]Head-to-Head History[/p]
[p]Italy have won all of the previous eight H2Hs, keeping a clean sheet six times therein. Seven of those wins have come by a 2+ goal margin – including September’s 5-0 victory.[/p]
[p]Hot Stats and Streaks[/p]
[p]Estonia have failed to score in nine of their last ten home losses.[/p]
[p]Seven of Estonia’s last eight matches were level at half-time.[/p]
[p]Ten of Italy’s last 12 matches produced over 2.5 goals.[/p]
[p]Italy have kept a clean sheet in only one of their last six away matches.[/p]
[p]Key Players to Watch and Missing Players[/p]
[p]Rauno Sappinen has directly contributed to five goals in his last six appearances at club level (G2, A3), while his last three international strikes have come in games that saw both teams score. Mateo Retegui was involved in six goals across Gattuso’s first two games (G2, A4), with both the goals he scored coming against Estonia. Five of his last seven goals for club and country arrived beyond the hour mark.[/p]
[p]Estonia are seemingly almost at full strength, while Italy will be without the injured Mattia Zaccagni.[/p]
[p]For all the latest team news, please check the Flashscore match centre.[/p]
[p]Betting Analysis[/p]
[p]Given Gattuso’s impressive start, backing Italy to score over 3.5 goals again seems logical.[/p]
[p][i]Author: Tomáš Vlasák[/i][/p]