Italy and Portugal Battling for Top Spot in EURO Under 19 Group A final fixture

Posted on July 16, 2016 by Dewa Nugraha

The UEFA under 19 fixtures is heading into its final group game and things getting more exciting with teams are pushing hard to grab that top two semifinal seats. One of the potentially attractive encounter will happen between Italy U19 against Portugal U19, which both are sitting second and first in Group A standings with the same four points. This situation is intriguing indeed as those two sides will be keen on avoiding the top seat from Group B, which  most likely will be earned by England, after collecting their second win against Netherlands on Friday.

Although grabbing one point might be enough for both teams to qualify, but they can’t take any chances knowing that third place Austria are still within a shot in advancing as they already collected two points from two games. Azzurrini side that won their game against Germany Under 19 and were held by Austria are determined to prove their worth in the tournament. Being led by AC Milan young midfielder, Manuel Locatelli and goal keeper, Alex Meret will be gunning for all three points since a defeat or even one points can jeopardize their ambition in getting into the knock out stages.

Similar mindset also being carried by Portugal as they surely also determined to follow the footstep of their seniors, who just recently won the Euro 2016. The only way for young Selecao to achieve their dream is by securing maximum points on Sunday against Gli Azzurri. It won’t be an easy game, but their recent thrilling 4-3 win over Germany could serve as strong additional motivation ahead of their weekend battle against Italy. However, Selecao head coach, Emilio Peixe must warned his defenders to improve their performance as they have conceded four goals in previous two games, a rather alarming situation for them.

Reference: Italy Under 19 vs Portugal Under 19 H2H stats

Which one of those two talented under 19 sides that will come out as winner? According to the bookies, Azzurrini are being slightly tipped as favorite with the odds for their victory set at 2.55. However, the margin is very small as Portugal’s chance in securing maximum result is being placed at 2.85. Meanwhile, a very likely draw result also received reasonable high odds as it’s set at 2.90. This basically means that despite favoring the Italian, there’s not many guarantee that Paolo Vanoli’s team can comfortably picked up all three points, especially with young Selecao getting motivated after their thrilling win over host nation, Germany. This game will most likely be a very tight encounter that could go either way, that’s why those who are keen on betting for a draw, might be getting some joy.