Italy

The Italians may have won the World Cup in 2006 but that was with an aging team and it won't count for much six years on with many of those players no longer in the Italian line up. The newer generation of Italian player doesn't seem quite as good, they even finished below New Zealand in their group at the World Cup, and they will have to improve massively if they want to have any chance here.

Italy can't really be judged on their qualifying campaign as their group was one of the weakest, we should know after a game or two if they are serious challengers but early thoughts are they are up against it.

Best Bets On Italy At Euro 2012

Here are the best bets on Italy at Euro 2012 in the most popular betting markets:

Italy To Finish Runners Up In Group C

Italy face a very tough task in trying to finish above Spain in their group and they haven't looked anywhere near the class of Spain in recent major tournaments so are probably playing for second place at best. Republic Of Ireland and Croatia are both decent teams and won't roll over for anyone in Group C but these are two teams who required the playoffs to qualify for Euro 2012 and shouldn't be as good as Italy.

Italy To Gain Four Points In Group C

Four points may not seem very much for a team like Italy but eight of the last sixteen group runners up at the European Championships have qualified with four points and presuming they lose to Spain but still qualify they can only really get four or six points. Four of Italy's qualifying wins came by just a single goal margin and considering they will face better teams here it is not hard to envisage either Croatia or Republic Of Ireland holding Italy to a draw.

Italy To Be Eliminated In The Quarter Finals

So Italy are expected to qualify as group runners up and that means they will most likely face England or France (winners of Group D) in the Quarter Finals. Italy will see that as a winnable game but so will the opposition and Italy seem likely to be narrowly beaten by both France and England. The fact that they would still probably face France or England even if Italy won Group C makes this an even better bet as it seems whatever happens they will face a very tough test in the Quarter Finals.

Italy Qualifying Results

Italy had one of the more unusual qualifying journeys ahead of Euro 2012, they only actually completed nine games as the match against Serbia was abandoned due to crowd trouble. Italy were eventually awarded that match which contributed to Italy being one of the five teams to go through qualifying unbeaten. Italy looked to have one of the more favourable groups for qualifying, the runners up Estonia were easily defeated by Republic Of Ireland in the playoffs, and Italy will find things a lot tougher at the Euro 2012 finals.

Italy Euro 2012 Squad

This is the predicted 23 man Italy Euro 2012 squad, when the final squad is announced the squad will be updated:

Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Buffon, Emiliano Viviano, Salvatore Sirigu.

Defenders: Giorgio Chiellini, Leonardo Bonucci, Domenico Criscito, Federico Balzaretti, Mattia Cassani, Andrea Ranocchia, Luca Antonelli, Andrea Barzagli.

Midfielders: Andrea Pirlo, Riccardo Montolivo, Daniele Di Rossi, Claudio Marchisio, Alberto Aquilani, Christian Maggio, Antonio Nocerino, Thiago Motta.

Forwards: Antonio Cassano, Giampaolo Pazzini, Giuseppe Rossi, Mario Balotelli.

Italy Player Stats From Euro 2012 Qualifying

Italy Player's Goal Stats

Here are the most important goal stats from Italy's Euro 2012 qualifying group. Use these to pick the best goalscorer bets on Italy's games at Euro 2012.

*All stats reflect bookies rules for own goals and 90 mins play in their respective markets. Eight other Italy players scored a single goal in qualification and there was also one own goal.

Italy have never been a side to score too many goals but even by their standards it was still a little bizarre that only two players managed to score more than once for them in qualifying. Both of Giampaolo Pazzini's goals in qualifying were last goals which is worth noting but clearly the player to concentrate on in the goalscorer betting is Antonio Cassano who looks the most likely first, last and anytime goalscorer for Italy and also the most likely candidate to be Italy's top scorer at Euro 2012.

Italy Players' Disciplinary Stats

Check Italy's yellow and red card stats below to help highlight the best bets in the cards markets for Italy's Euro 2012 matches.

Italy had a pretty good disciplinary record during their nine qualifying games with just five players picking yellow cards. No player gained more than one yellow card so it is going to be difficult to use these stats to pick the most likely Italy player to pick up bookings at Euro 2012, it will probably be one of their first choice defenders when the tournament begins.

Italy Team Stats From Euro 2012 Qualifying

Italy's team stats can be found below, these stats can be applied to a many match markets for Euro 2012.

Italy only played nine games in qualifying due to their match against Serbia being forefeited. Italy averaged less than two goals a game which is pretty low considering the strength of the group and with a great defensive record most bets on Italy matches should be on low scoring outcomes with under 1.5 goals looking good value, under 2.5 goals normally a good bet and clean sheets also worth a bet.

Italy didn't concede any goals in the second half of their matches which is an interesting stat, that could make in running betting a bit easier in markets such as the correct score. There wasn't much difference between Italy's ability to score in the first half and their ability to score in the second half but they very rarely scored in both halves of their games suggesting most second halves in Italy's matches will finish 0-0.

Italy Recent European Championships Performances

Italy have often struggled once they reach the Euro 2012 finals, on two occasions in the last four attempts they have finished third in their group and failed to qualify. Sandwiched inbetween those two group failures was an appearance in the final, where Italy were beaten in injury time by France. On their most recent European Championships outing, Italy were eliminated in the quarter finals.