Switzerland and Italy will raise the curtain on the knockout phase of the 2024 Euro. They meet each other in the last-16 round on Saturday afternoon at Olympiastadion Berlin.
Italy enter the tie as slight favourites bit Switzerland are yet to suffer a defeat in this tournament. Can La Nati cause an upset?
- Switzerland lost just 1 of the last 17 games across competitions.
- Five of Italy’s previous six outings ended with fewer than three goals scored.
- Three of Switzerland’s last four fixtures finished with fewer than three goals scored.
- Only one of the previous six H2H clashes between Switzerland and Italy provided three or more goals.
Switzerland started the competition with an empathic 3-1 victory over Hungary. They followed it up with successive 1-1 draws to Scotland and Germany.
Head coach Murat Yakin can be particularly pleased with his team’s display in the final game of the group stage.
The Swiss team had the hosts on the ropes but got unlucky to concede a last-gasp equalizer by Niclas Fullkrug.
Italy survived a dramatic end to their third-round clash against Croatia. Azzurri trailed in the game all up until the eighth minute of stoppage time.
Substitute Mattia Zaccagni then bagged a beautiful goal to rescue the Italians and secure them the second-place finish in Group B.
Switzerland vs Italy Predicted Lineups and Team News
The only problem for Murat Yakin ahead of the last-16 round clash is the suspension of his right wing-back Silvan Widmer. Widmer got booked late in the outing against Germany and will be forced to skip this tie.
We also expect Ruben Vargas to return to the starting lineup in place of Fabian Rieder. The rest of the team should remain unchanged.
Italy’s formation with Federico Dimarco as a left winger functioned great against Croatia on Monday.
Azziurri had control throughout most of the game despite conceding first on the occasion. We would not be surprised to see Luciano Spalletti utilizing the same formula against the Swiss outfit.
Switzerland (3-4-2-1): Sommer – Elvedi, Akanji, Rodriguez – Schar, Freuler, Xhaka, Aebischer – Ndoye, Vargas – Embolo
Italy (4-5-1): Donnarumma – Di Lorenzo, Bastoni, Calafiori, Darmian – Barella, Jorginho, Raspadori, Pellegrini, Dimarco – Retegui.
