Argentina 19/20 to beat Italy in Fridays international friendly

Competition: International Friendly

Market: Argentina to beat Italy

Odds: 19/20 @ Bet365

Although they may have been far from convincing during their World Cup qualifying campaign, Argentina led by Barcelona talisman Lionel Messi will be desperate to get back to winning ways before the finals begin this summers. On Friday, Argentina will play host to an Italy side who are trying to rebuild from the bottom after failing to make it through the playoff stages.

For Jorge Sampaoli’s Argentina side, the White and Sky Blues will be hoping that a tough qualifying campaign is behind them before they make the journey to Russia in June. Only managing to finish third in the South American group, Argentina eventually finished 13 points behind bitter rivals Brazil and only booked their spot in the top four courtesy of a Lionel Messi hat-trick against Ecuador in the final round of group games. Only winning seven of their 18 matches, while they are most recently coming off the back of a shock 4-2 defeat to Nigeria, Sampaoli’s squad still includes the likes of Messi, Higuain, Aguero and Dybala, the 1986 World Cup winners still carry a tremendous amount of power.

As for Italy, after sacking Gian Piero Ventura, the 2006 World Cup winners are now without a permanent replacement and are drastically looking to rebuild after failing to make it to back to back major tournaments. Coming away with a 1-0 aggregate defeat to Sweden in the playoffs, this will be the first time since 1958 that the four-time winners have not qualified for the finals.

Bet: Argentina to beat Italy in Fridays international friendly 19/20 @ Bet365>>