Last Updated on September 4, 2023 8:37 pm by Erwin Noguera
The UEFA Euro 2024 qualifiers present us with a duel with a special tone on Matchday 5, as North Macedonia will host Italy, in a replay of the playoff for the Qatar 2022 World Cup in Europe.
North Macedonia are coming off a 7-0 thrashing by England away from home, leaving them in critical condition in their bid to play in Euro 2024.
The last qualifier game for Italy ended 2-0 for the reigning European kings over Malta.
When:
Saturday, September at 2:45 pm ET
Moneyline odds:
North Macedonia +650
Italy -250
Draw Offs:
+350
Where Can I Watch?
Fox Sports, fuboTV, and TUDN
Why Bet on North Macedonia?
Repeating the miracle of competing to qualify for a top-level tournament, as happened on the road to the 2022 World Cup, seems complex for North Macedonia, which eliminated Italy 1-0 in that play-off.
In their last Euro qualifier game, the Macedonian team was thrashed 7-0 by England, with Bukayo Saka’s hat-trick and Harry Kane’s brace.
Despite this, the team coached by Blagoja Milevski is not at the bottom of the table but is second to last with three points after three matches. The only victory was in the first matchday and it was 2-1 over weak Malta. With 11 goals conceded, they are the worst defense in the group.
Macedonia, which was in the last Euro, has as a great figure the midfielder Eljif Elmas, the 23-year-old Napoli player, who has just won the Serie A championship. He has scored two goals in this qualifying tournament and is his country’s top scorer.
Why Bet on Italy?
Having played in the last Nations League, Italy has only two games in the Euro 2024 qualifiers, so it needs a win away to Macedonia to take second place, which is currently held by Ukraine.
The Italians beat Malta 2-0 in the last matchday, with goals by Mateo Retegui and Matteo Pessina, while in their first game, they lost to England by 1-2, so they have three points and are third.
In addition, the ‘Azzurra’ will try to take revenge against Macedonia with a novelty: they have a new coach, as Luciano Spalletti will be on the bench after Roberto Mancini’s departure to the Saudi Arabian national team.
Spalletti will once again rely on players like Gigi Donnarumma, Nicolo Barella, Lorenzo Pellegrini, Sandro Tonali, Ciro Immobile, and the nationalized Retegui, the team’s scorer with two goals, who arrived at Genoa this season looking to get into the dynamics of Italian soccer and has already scored 3 goals for his club.
The big news is the absence of Leonardo Bonucci, who has left Juventus and joined German club Union Berlin.
Final Betting Analysis: North Macedonia vs. Italy
Italy is the reigning European champion, has a new coach, and is surely thirsty for revenge against North Macedonia, for losing to this country on the road to Qatar 2022; all these condiments make the Italians the big favorites to win the away match.
The numbers at MyBookie.ag have Italy as the favorite, as the Moneyline for them shows -250, meanwhile North Macedonia has +650 and the draw is +350.
The last time these countries met was Italy’s elimination on the road to the World Cup in Qatar 2022 when they lost 1-0 with Aleksandar Trajkovski scoring. They have not played in Macedonia since 2016, when the four-time world champions won 3-2.
Go for a straight win for Italy in the Moneyline. If you bet $100 at -250, you will gain $40 for a total payout of $140.
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