Mexico v Italy Confederations Cup Prediction 16th June 2013

Mexico v Italy Betting Preview
Winner of the 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup, Mexico take on Italy in Group B of the Confederations Cup. The Italians are there courtesy of finishing as runners up at Euro 2012, the winner of which gains entry into the FIFA tournament. But because Spain won Euro 2012 and are current World Cup holders as well, the Euro 2012 entry spot went to Italy. An interesting match in prospect between two sides who are pretty resilient and both have a solid amount of potential in their ranks.

Mexico v Italy Betting Odds at online bookmaker Bet Victor
Italy 13/10,Draw 9/4, Mexico 5/2

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Mexico v Italy Recommended Bet:
The Italians will be looking for a return to top form to open their group with. After taking a draw against the Czech Republic in their 2014 World Cup qualification group (a match in which the volatile Mario Balotelli was sent off for two bookings in the space of three minutes), the Italians followed it up with a friendly draw against Haiti. It’s certainly not panic stations though, as Cesar Prandelli’s men are well in control of their Brazil 2014 group ahead of Bulgaria. Italy have a good set up at the moment under Prandelli, and while they excel defensively, they are not a defensive side. They defend high up the pitch in eliminating time and space from their opponents. Not only that, they have great control in the middle of the pitch as the well, with superb ball retention.

The Italians are quite an adventurous side and they have quality with Andrea Pirlo pulling the strings from deep. The young strike duo of Mario Balotelli and Stephan El Shaarawy have the goals and pace to trouble a lot of defences. This is only Italy’s second attempt at the FIFA Confederations Cup, and the last time that they were in attendance four years ago, it was an aging squad which pretty much produced a tournament to forget. They are a totally different side from back then, are currently ranked 8th in the world and will be favourites to beat Mexico, who are a stubborn side themselves, but are struggling for goals.

Mexico are the draw kings of international soccer at the moment. In their last nine matches during 2013, they have drawn eight of them. They opened the year with six draws in a row. In those last nine matches, five of the draws were all goalless. With their failure to convert wins, Mexico have been struggling to get through to the 2014 World Cup, with just one win in six matches. In their last two matches, they have only managed 0-0 draws as well, coming against Panama and Costa Rica. While they have shown a lot of resiliency and potential in their ranks, their level of opposition has not been as high as it will be when they face up to Italy and Brazil. Still, at the end of the day they haven’t conceded a lot of goal, which is a positive, but with just six goals in their last nine games, they are struggling up top. El Tri need to find a better balance and this will be their fifth attempt at the FIFA Confederations Cup.

In the Mexico v Italy head to head, there have been eleven previous match ups. The Italians have won six of them, against a sole triumph for the Mexicans. The goals in the matches stand at 29 to Italy against nine from Mexico. The last time they met, in an International Friendly in Brussels, it was Mexico who took a 2-1 win. The two meetings prior to that had both been 1-1 draws.

Form
Mexico DDDWDD, Italay DDWWDD