Spain vs Italy Prediction: An evenly matched fixture in B

Current European champions Italy will face 3-time Euro title holders Spain at Veltins-Arena in Gelsenkirchen. In their respective openers, both nations took maximum points and will now have their hopes high in this game. Let's give a full match preview and make possible betting outcomes available. 

Spain had one of the best performances in the opening round of games, and that is good to take them to the top of Group B. Entering into this Euro, Spain secured an easy 5-1 win over Northern Ireland and La Furia Roja showed why they are a three-time European winner. 

In their opener against Croatia, Spain scored three first-half goals that were enough to lead them to victory. In that encounter, Alvaro Morata, Fabian Ruiz and Dani Carvajal all found the back of the net for Spain. 

Luis de la Fuente would not have believed they would have an easy start like this when they made it to Germany, but it is not all job done. While we now expect another solid play from this team, we can expect the likes of Lamine Yamal, Fabian Ruiz, and the likes to be crucial in this second game. ;

Pre-match facts show that Spain have won their last two matches against Italy, with both their victories coming in the UEFA Nations League. Also, the La Furia Roja have won their last three matches against the reigning champions of the UEFA Euro Championship.

Italy showed what they are capable of doing against Albania in their opening game, and we can look forward to another decent play from this team. Since losing to Spain 2-1 in the Nations League back in March 2023, Italy, under Luciano Spalletti, have now gone to play 12 consecutive competitive games with just one loss against England. 

Entering into this tournament, Luciano Spalletti's men pulled a 1-0 hard-fought win over Bosnia & Herzegovina, with Davide Frattesi's 38th-minute strike being the difference. However, their game against Albania in round 1 was a tough one as this team had to come from behind to secure a win. Thanks to the quick response from Luciano Spalletti's men, Alessandro Bastoni was quick to level the scores from Lorenzo Pellegrini's cross before Nicolo Barella's shot from outside the box hit the target. 

Ahead of this game, Italy have lost only one of their last 10 matches against Spain in open play in major international tournaments, with their only such defeat during this period coming by a 4-0 margin in the final of UEFA Euro 2012.

Though considered outsiders this summer, the Azzurri's big ambition to become just the second team to win successive Euros, following in the footsteps of Spain, will now demand them to take something out of this game despite Croatia and Albania picking just one point so far in two games.

Spain Possible Starting Lineup:

Simon; Carvajal, Le Normand, Nacho, Cucurella; Pedri, Rodri, Ruiz; Yamal, Morata, Williams

Italy Possible Starting Lineup:

Donnarumma; Di Lorenzo, Bastoni, Calafiori, Dimarco; Jorginho, Barella; Frattesi, Pellegrini, Chiesa; Scamacca

This should be a game full of competition from the beginning to the end, and we can expect a very close scoreline. Spain was just full of brilliance in their opener against Croatia, and that could just be the tip of the iceberg of how dangerous this team could be to opponents. The Azzurri, on the other hand, were sharp in their opener and full of threat in offense, and we can actually expect that kind of performance from them against Spain. 

I do not think the two teams will find it difficult in front of the goal here, following how decent they were offensively in their openers. With Spain boasting of a more organized team, a win for them and goals are the options in this game.