Euros Predictor: Final Prediction!

Those of us here in England still can't quite believe it, but the Euro 2020 final will see Italy take on England at Wembley this Sunday.

It's always great when the two best teams in the tournament are actually the ones that make it to the final and there's no doubt that these two deserve their place in this fixture. It's an incredibly tough match to call which is just what you want as well, particularly for Superbru where the community will be split!

Here are my thoughts on the game.

Italy vs. England

OK, so I'll probably end up just picking with heart (we'll get to that in a bit) but in terms of how the game will go, I think England would be wise to follow Spain's approach in many ways as we saw them get the better of Italy before the shootout in my opinion. Italy's major strength is the quality of their midfield, so Spain had some success by pressing that midfield hard and blocking pass routes to Jorginho/Barella which resulted in Di Lorenzo and Emerson being used a lot more for playing out which isn't ideal for the Azzurri, particularly as Emerson is second-choice and short of game time following the injury to Spinazzola (who was excellent). That's not to say I think the Italian full-backs are poor or playing especially badly, Mancini would just much rather the midfielders were on the ball as early in transitions as possible given that's their strength.

However, I'm not sure we'll see England do that as much since Rice and Phillips will likely start and they obviously play deeper than Spain's midfield three so instead I think we'll see England sit off slightly as they did against Germany and then look to beat Chiellini and Bonucci with pace through inside runs from Sterling and Saka (or whoever plays RW) with Kane dropping deeper as he does for Tottenham. That's me focusing on how England could hurt Italy, but the trouble is that Italy could well just run this match through Barella, Verratti and particularly Jorginho if England don't play high enough.

I've gone from thinking I'd pick Italy to really starting to believe England can do it but I'm not sure how much of that is heart! In the final third, I think Sterling and Kane are more dangerous than Italy's front three but it's the Italians who have the major final experience and who will probably have more of the ball. I feel fairly confident this will go beyond 90 minutes (maybe just because so many matches in this tournament have!) but after that it really is anyone's guess. With home advantage, so many players in form and the best defensive record in the tournament, I think there's enough actual logic to think England might just do this as well as the fact I really hope they do! Prediction: Italy 1-2 England



Good luck with your own prediction and I hope everyone enjoys what should be a genuinely great final. Feel free to leave your own thoughts in the comments!