World Cup 2022: Italy and Switzerland in Group C Face-Off

Italy vs Switzerland

Italy and Switzerland are set to do battle in Rome on Friday night, for the prize of an automatic place at Qatar 2022.

Both teams are assured of a top two place in Group C having collected 14 points from six games though Italy currently occupy top spot on goal difference. A draw will most likely be enough for the Azzurri as their final game is against Northern Ireland, a nation they should surely beat. That outcome would leave the Swiss in the play-offs, but if they manage to win on Friday, a final match against Bulgaria would give them a great chance of automatic qualification.

There’s plenty of fantastic action for SBOTOP football fans to enjoy with a full programme in Europe, as well as South America where the clash of the week is in Sao Paulo where Brazil entertain Colombia. And World Cup 2022: Italy vs Switzerland is up among the best on offer as the two European neighbours fight it out for Group C supremacy.

Talking Points

Italy’s record run is over

A 2-1 defeat to Spain in the Nations League semi-final ended a record run of 37 consecutive games without defeat for the Azzurri, and their hopes of adding the UEFA Nations League to their European crown disappeared as Manchester City star Ferran Torres scored a double. Roberto Mancini’s team recovered to beat Belgium 2-1 to secure third place.

The Italy vs Switzerland betting odds back a home victory, with the European champions at odds of 1.56 to win this tie. They haven’t been in World Cup action since beating Lithuania 5-0 in September but the Azzurri have won four and drawn two so far, and four more points will almost certainly be enough for them to claim top spot.

Mancini has transformed this side since he took over in the aftermath of Italy’s failure to qualify for the 2018 World Cup. The famous football nation has struggled since winning the 2006 World Cup, eliminated at the group stage of both the 2010 and 2014 competitions. But as they showed at Euro 2020 they are back among the world’s elite.

They will have a strong side out for this game despite the absence of Lorenzo Pellegrini, with the inform Nico Barella alongside Jorginho and Manuel Locatelli in midfield, behind a front three of Federico Chiesa, Lorenzo Insigne and Federico Bernardeschi. And with Leonardo Bonucci available again after serving a suspension against Belgium, he could re-unite with long time centre back partner Giorgio Chiellini.

Embolo out for Switzerland

So Murat Yakin’s Switzerland have an imposing team to measure up to, but they have recently enjoyed a successful Euro 2020 campaign, reaching the quarter finals, and are performing well in World Cup qualification with back to back wins over Northern Ireland (2-0) and Lithuania (4-0). They are in with a great chance of qualifying, though maybe through the play-offs as they are currently suffering a lengthening injury list. The biggest miss will be livewire striker Breel Embolo who has three goals in the tournament so far, and he joins Nico Elvedi, Steven Zuber, Granit Xhaka and Haris Seferovic on the absentee list.

The good news for Yakin is that midfield star Denis Zakaria is back from suspension and he’ll provide good support for the forward players Mario Gavranovic and Xherdan Shaqiri.

Yann Sommer performed well against Italy in the World Cup 2022 — Jorginho saw his penalty saved by Yann Sommer

The Swiss have been consistent performers, reaching the knockout phase of the last two World Cups and it would be a surprise if they missed out on qualification for Qatar. Since taking over as head coach, Yakin has carried on the good work of Vladimir Petkovic who has gone to manage Ligue 1 side Bordeaux. They have identical stats to Italy with four wins and two draws but, as the Azzurri will still have the upper hand if the two teams draw, Switzerland must go for all three points.

History

Of the 15 games played between these two nations Switzerland have won just two; Italy have won six and there have been seven draws.

In fact the Azzurri have not lost this fixture since 1993, though four of the last five meetings have ended up all square. The teams have met twice in 2021 as Italy beat Switzerland 3-0 at Euro 2020 and then, in September, the they played out a 0-0 draw at the St Jakob Park in Basel as Jorginho missed a penalty.

The Swiss are unbeaten in five coming into the game while Italy have now lost one in 39!

Betting Tip

	Italy vs Switzerland	Under 2.25 @ 1.96
	November 13, 03:45 (GMT+8)

With Switzerland at 4.84 and the draw at 3.54 it would be big World Cup 2022 news if they beat their illustrious neighbours and take control of Group C.

But I don’t think they will. I expect the Azzurri to have an edge in a low scoring encounter.