Slovakia U21 vs Italy U21 prediction: EUROPE: Euro U21 betting tips on match 2025-06-13 19:00.
[p]Hosts of the 2025 UEFA European U21 Championships, Slovakia showed plenty of spirit in their curtain raiser, coming from two goals down against pre-tournament favourites Spain, only to concede in the 90th minute to lose 3-2. A second group stage exit from as many appearances in this competition therefore looms large unless they can avoid defeat against another heavyweight opponent in Italy.[/p]
[p]Jaroslav Kentoš’ men face a big challenge on that front as, while there were positives to take from the Spain defeat, the result extended their winless run to six matches (D2, L4). The Falcons have conceded a whopping 16 goals in that sequence, and things may not get any better here considering their poor H2H record against Italy (W1, D2, L2), albeit they won the most recent meeting 3-0 in 2018.[/p]
[p]Record appearance makers in this tournament, Italy were marked out as one of the sides fancied to go all the way, but they failed to live up to that tag in their narrow 1-0 win over Romania on Wednesday. The Azzurri survived a major scare with goalkeeper Sebastiano Desplanches saving a penalty to ensure they clung onto three points and ended a five-match winless run that started back in October (D4, L1).[/p]
[p]That was also Italy’s first clean sheet since beating Norway in September, but improvements will be needed against tougher opposition here. Any slip-up leaves them at risk of a third group stage exit in four appearances at the U21 Euros, which would be a huge ignominy for the nation with the joint-most titles in this competition (five), though the last time they went all the way came back in 2004 with a team containing the likes of Daniele De Rossi![/p]
[p]Players to watch: Slovakia full-back Samuel Kopásek scored their opening goal against Spain, with that his second strike for his country, both of which have come in European Championships. Tommaso Baldanzi continued his strong form for Italy, backing up his four goals in qualifying for the tournament with the decisive strike against Romania.[/p]
[p]Hot stat: Six of Slovakia’s last seven matches produced 4+ total goals.[/p]
[p][i]Written by Ryan Fisher[/i][/p]