Euro 2016 Odds – Italy Look to Overpower Azerbaijan

After starting its Euro 2016 qualification with a win over Norway (2-0), Italy is looking forward to another victory as they host Azerbaijan in Group H action next Friday, October 10 in Renzo Barbera at Palermo at 14:45 ET.

The Azzurri are the heavy favorite to win the game. Italy is listed at -1200 in the money line, meanwhile, the out-gunned Azerbaijan side is +2500; a draw will pay out at +900.

The Azzurri are in first place in Group H with three points and a +2 goal differential. After their victory in Oslo, new head coach, Antonio Conte, said he was satisfied with the young players’ production and is very optimistic going forward.

“We were very dangerous at times. I’m particularly pleased with the young players like [Mattia] De Sciglio, [Matteo] Darmian, Immobile, Zaza, [Alessandro] Florenzi, [Andrea] Poli when he came on, [Mattia] Destro – they’re all young players. This has got to be our present and our future”, said the coach.

However, Conte knows his team needs balance between experience and youth. After being injured last fixture, veteran Andrea Pirlo is back, and Conte called on him to play against Azerbaijan.

Said Conte, “Andrea gave me his total availability in every scenario. He wants to help team-mates such as Marco Verratti to improve because they are the present and the future of the national team. I really appreciate his willingness to help.”

On the other side, Azerbaijan suffered a hard home defeat against Bulgaria (2-1) in the first fixture. Consequently, they are in fourth place in the group with zero points and a -1 goal differential.

Italy has won both of their previous meetings against Azerbaijan without conceding a goal (2-0 and 4-0) in Euro 2004 qualifying.

Croatia and Malta round out the Group H teams.