Israel take on the visitors Italy in the round 2 match of UEFA Nations League group stage. The match will be played on Monday, September 9th at Bozsik Arena (Budapest).
The "Blue and Whites" achieved success in the UEFA Nations League, winning their group in the last cycle and now advancing to the elite League A. However, when it comes to regular UEFA qualifiers, Israel has consistently struggled to find success. This was evident last year when they ended up with fewer points than both Switzerland, who were not in top form, and Romania, in a relatively favorable group. Their additional opportunity through the March "Nations League path" ended in a 1-4 defeat to Iceland. Things could have turned out differently, but key striker Eran Zahavi missed a crucial penalty. Now, under new coach Ben Shimon, Zahavi has not been called up, nor has another top forward, Shon Weissman, who has been absent for nearly a year. Without them, Israel faced Belgium on neutral ground, leading at halftime due to a Castagne own goal, but quickly conceded three times in the second half.
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Italy continues to struggle under its current coach. The "Azzurri," after the national football catastrophe of missing the 2018 World Cup, placed their trust in Roberto Mancini. He led the team through an impressive period, culminating in a well-deserved Euro 2020 victory. However, things quickly went downhill: finishing second in their World Cup qualifying group behind Switzerland, a shocking home defeat in the playoff to North Macedonia, a shaky start to Euro qualification, and a mediocre result in the Nations League final. After that, Mancini left for Saudi Arabia on a lucrative contract. Luciano Spalletti took over but has not fared much better. He dropped points against North Macedonia in his first match, lost to England, and only secured second place in the group over Ukraine due to tiebreakers after a cautious draw in the final match (with controversy over a possible penalty against Donnarumma late in the game). At the Euros, Italy conceded a record early goal after a mistake but managed a comeback win over Albania. After a 0-1 loss to Spain, they salvaged a last-minute draw against Croatia. In the playoffs, they were comfortably beaten 0-2 by Switzerland. Spalletti remains in charge, and after reshuffling the squad, they faced France in Paris. Despite conceding in the opening minute, Italy mounted a comeback to win 3-1.
The "Azzurri" have won four out of five encounters. Israel's only success was a 0-0 draw at the 1970 World Cup. There doesn’t seem to be much room for surprise in this matchup. The recommendation is to bet on Italy to win with a handicap of "-1.5 goals."
Prediction for the match: Italy to win with -1.5 goals.
