Switzerland vs. Italy 9/5/21 European World Cup Qualifications Soccer Pick, Odds, and Prediction

Switzerland is hosting Italy at St. Jakob-Park in round 5 of Group C of the World Cup Qualifications. Switzerland has played a friendly game a few days ago against Greece, and they have won that match 2-1. After winning the Euro Cup this past summer, Italy went on to face Bulgaria a few days ago, and that match ended in a draw.

Switzerland has had a great Euro Cup, and if they had just a tiny bit more quality in their roster, they would have beaten Spain as well. So far in these qualifications, Switzerland has played 2 games, and they have won both. With 6 points, 4 scored goals, and only 1 conceded a goal so far, Switzerland is now in 2^nd place. In that game against Greece, Switzerland has had 49% of ball possession, 4 shots on goal, 4 corner kicks, but they were able to score a goal in each half, and they ended up winning this match 2-1. Embolo, Zuber, Seferovic, and Shaqiri have each scored 1 goal for Switzerland in these qualifications. Switzerland is a good team, they have some great players, but they always end up missing that final step towards success.

As I’ve mentioned, Italy has won the Euro Cup, and they didn’t have a hard opponent a few days ago in these qualifications, but they weren’t able to score that winning goal. Italy was dominant in that match with an impressive 79% of ball possession, 8 shots on goal, 10 corner kicks, 3 big chances created, and a high 90% of the correct passes. Of all those shots on goal, Italy has scored only 1 goal, and they have conceded also 1 goal in the second half. This game has ended in a 1-1 draw, but Italy is still at the top of this group with 10 points, 7 scored goals, and only 1 conceded goal in 4 games. With 2 scored goals, Immobile is the leading goalscorer for Italy, but he hasn’t been playing well since the Euro Cup group stage, and I think he will start this game on the bench. Belotti, Sensi, Berardi, Locatelli, and Chiesa have each added 1 goal for Italy as well. There are a few injuries in Italy, some players are out of form, but Italy has a lot of depth, they are a great team, and they have been undefeated in a long, long time.

These two teams have met in the Euro Cup group stage, and Italy has won that game 3-0. Switzerland is undefeated in their last 3 home games against Italy, they are on a 6-game winning streak at home, but Italy hasn’t lost any of their last 11 games on the road. I think this will be a good game, and as we can see, Italy tends to lose focus on the defensive end, and for that reason, I think Switzerland will score at least one goal here.