Portugal vs Italy 05/03/20

5 March 2020

Portugal W take on Italy W in the Algarve Cup quarter-finals at the Estádio Algarve, looking to break their six-game losing run in H2H clashes.

‘A Selecção das Quinas’ are enduring a torrid time, having picked up just one win in their last five outings (D1, L3), and that’s mainly thanks to a lack of creativity in the attacking third. Indeed, they’ve drawn a blank in each of their three defeats during that five-game sequence, scoring precisely one apiece in the other two matches. Portugal now face a daunting prospect of improving their disappointing scoring record as they take on a side they’ve scored just one goal against in four of their five previous H2Hs. Also, lapses in concentration in the late stages have seen Portugal concede a goal inside the final 20 minutes of play in four of their last five fixtures.

Meanwhile, Italy come into this encounter after racking up six consecutive victories, with the last four all yielding a clean sheet and a winning margin of multiple goals. Particularly dangerous in the first half of play, ‘Le Azzurre’ have scored 11 of their last 13 goals for before the break, with nine of them coming between the 25-minute mark and halftime. Their defense has been quite robust during the last 12 months, too, conceding over 1.5 goals in just three of 15 of their previous outings in that stretch. Curiously, none of Italy’s last 13 matches has ended in a draw (W11, L2), with 69.23% (nine) of them seeing the winner on the day keep a clean sheet.