Stadio Renzo Barbera in Palermo will host the next fixture of the Italian national team against Azerbaijan on 10th October for the second round of qualifying for the 2016 European Championship in Group H. Kickoff has been set at 19:45.
Italy and Croatia are the favorites of qualifying from Group H. Italy took the first step by defeating Norway 2-0 on an away game in the first round.
So they will be looking to capitalize on that, and go for 2 for 2 with an easy victory over Azerbaijan who have already lost their first round match at home from Bulgaria 1-2, and are expected to fight it out with Malta to avoid the last position.
Italy needs to recover from the 2014 World Cup disaster and their failure to qualify for the next round. The ever problematic character of Mario Balotelli was used as a scapegoat but Italy faced a much deeper crisis.
One that they attempt to rectify with a new manager and a new team. For them qualifying for the European Championship is a “do or die” proposition and they are expected to play each fixture to win and sort the first and second position in the matches between themselves and Croatia.
Azerbaijan may be a descent disciplined ex-soviet team but they have neither the class nor the need for a result. If there is anything that they can count on is the lack of pressure, but even that, is not enough for anything further than may be scoring one goal. They could possibly offer some resistance and make it a bit harder for the Italians but they are not expected to survive the onslaught.
The cold facts say that Italy will easily win this one with a 2-0 or 3-0 score. If there is any surprise it may be a 3-1 score. Anything else is almost completely out of the question.