Italy v Albania predictions: Resolute Azzurri can open with win

Kick-off time: Saturday 15 June, 20:00, Dortmund

Housed in one of the toughest sections at Euro 2024, Italy at least have a soft opener against Albania in Dortmund and they should record a comfortable success.
 

The Italians are defending European champions but there are plenty of question marks around the team after they failed to qualify for the last World Cup.
 

They are also under relatively new management with former Roma, Inter and Napoli boss Luciano Spalletti having taken charge in September 2023, following the surprise departure of Roberto Mancini.
 

As is often the case in international management, Spalletti is still trying to impose his methods on the team and they are not without their deficiencies.
 

But their vulnerabilities are more likely to be exposed in group games with Spain and Croatia and they can stand firm in their opening contest.
 

Albania are certainly capable of springing a surprise - they finished above Czech Republic and Poland in their qualifying section - but Italy's strength lies in their defence and midfield and they should be able to limit counter-attacking opportunities for their opponents.
 

There are concerns about Italy going forward at this tournament with Gianluca Scamacca likely to spearhead the attack and that will heighten the importance of a disciplined rearguard.
 

With that in mind, the best bet in this Group B clash could be an Italy win to nil.
 

Although Italy were far from breathtaking in qualifying, they conceded only nine goals in eight matches in a group featuring England and Ukraine.
 

And they have kept clean sheets in three of their four international friendlies in 2024, shutting out Ecuador, Turkey and Bosnia.
 

Albania are more than the sum of their parts but they lack quality going forwards beyond Premier League ace Armando Broja and former Watford man Rey Manaj and their tally of 12 goals was the lowest among Euro 2024 qualifying group winners.
 

And while they warmed up for Euro 2024 with comfortable wins over minnows Liechtenstein and Azerbaijan, they had drawn blanks in three successive matches beforehand against Faroe Islands, Chile and Sweden.
 

Failing to score against Faroe Islands will have been particularly concerning for boss Sylvinho, especially as his team lost the shot count 10-8 in that contest in Tirana.
 

Albania face an uphill battle in Group C at Euro 2024 and there are certainly issues to exploit in the Italy team, but the Azzurri have enough experience and tournament knowhow in their ranks to grind out an important three points before games with Spain and Croatia.

Italy's main weakness is the lack of an obvious goalscorer and one player who will be tasked with filling that void is wide man Federico Chiesa.

The goals were shared around the Italy attack at Euro 2020 but Chiesa was among their most important players with two strikes to his name.

He netted a first-half brace in Italy's 5-2 dismantling of North Macedonia only last November and his pace and trickery are key to the Italian cause.

Likely to play on the right side of Italy's three-pronged attack, Chiesa looks like a good bet to score in Saturday night's encounter at Signal Iduna Park.