Defending World Cup champion Italy is favored in World Cup odds on Thursday as they face Slovakia in a virtual must-win match. Italy has only gotten two draws from their first two matches but they will go through to the round of 16 with a win in World Cup betting against Slovakia.
World Cup odds heavily favor the Italians in this match on Thursday that can be seen on ESPN. Even though Italy has done very little in their first two matches they are still in position to advance to the knockout round if they defeat Slovakia. Head coach Marcello Lippi has not panicked after the first two draws and he says that Italy is in fine shape heading into Thursday’s match. Italy has been very good defensively but they are struggling to create offensive chances. They may get a few more against a Slovakia team that appears to be the worst team in Group F.
Lippi has really been focused on not falling into the trap of criticizing his team in the press. That has happened elsewhere in the World Cup with teams like France and England and Lippi doesn’t want it to occur with Italy. The Italians will advance with a win and there is a chance they could advance with a draw although that result seems unlikely especially with Slovakia needing a win in World Cup odds to have any chance to advance.
Italy midfielder Daniele De Rossi believes that his team will be much better on Thursday than they were in the draw against New Zealand. Italy had a number of chances against New Zealand but they simply couldn’t beat goalkeeper Mark Paston. Italy believes they will have to be more aggressive right from the start against Slovakia so that they take control of the match early. They dominated the match against New Zealand but simply couldn’t get more than the one goal.
As unlikely as it seems, Slovakia is very much alive to advance to the knockout round in World Cup betting. They need to beat Italy in World Cup odds and then have Paraguay beat New Zealand. Paraguay is favored to beat the Kiwis but Slovakia will need to play much better than they have so far if they expect to be competitive against the defending World Cup champs.