The Slovakian national team gets a major to start the 2017 European Championship tournament, as the second game of the Pool B sees them taking on Italy. The latter are regarded as one of the favourites for the European Championship title in 2017, as they come into the tournament fourth in the world FIVB rankings. Italy have been able to win numerous honours in the past, and they have been successful in the European Championship on six occasions. They have only behind Russia in terms of the total gold medals. As a result, one can find the majority of the European Championship odds being in favour of Italy.

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Our Tips

• Italy to win @ 1/4 with 10Bet
• Italy -1.5 Set Handicap @ 9/11 with Unibet

Slovakia vs Italy Match Preview

The volleyball match between Slovakia and Italy in Pool B at the 2017 European Championsip will take place at the Azoty Arena in Szczecin. The start of the European Championship will be extremely interesent for the Italian national team, as the team failed in the latter stages of the 2015 competition after getting beaten by Slovenia in the semifinals 3-1 and they will want to replicate that. Italy will be hoping to go one better in 2017. The team managed to come third in the 2015 tournament after beating Bulgaria 3-1. As a result, European Championship odds are heavily in favour of Italy coming into this fixture.

Slovakia finished bottom of the 2015 group after failing to win any of their matches. As a result, they failed to even make it to the play-offs. European Championship betting tips see the team ranked at 26th in the world coming into the tournament. Their best ever finish in this tournament was in 2011 when they finished fifth. As a result, European Championship betting tips expect Italy to win the game.

Key Players to Watch

Slovakian players that are worth eyeing are diagonal Peter Mlynarcik and setter Daniel Koncal. Both did great against Spain and Belarus, the only two matches won by the team this summer.

Speaking of Italy, Antonov is probably the best spiker they have and is one of the main reason why Italy won against World League championss France back in June.

Both Teams' Recent Form

Slovakia lost five of their last seven matches (all of them took place this summer). They lost against Estonia, Belgium, Germany, Korea Republic, Netherlands and won against Belarus and Spain in the WC Qualifying stage. They have a poor form right now and we don't expect much from them.

On the other hand, Italy have won three of their five encounters in the World League and friendly matches. They crushed the Netherlands last week and their biggest victory so far is against France back in June, during the World League. Italy boast an amazing form.

Slovakia vs Italy Head-to-Head

The two teams have met only two times so far, back in June 2016 when Slovakia won 3-1, and in May 2012 when Italy defeated their opponents 0-3. The only thing worth mentioning as an additional note is the fact that Italy did excellent while away, and this coupled with their great form can do wonders in Poland. Therefore, their European Championship odds are short.

Slovakia vs Italy Prediction

Italy is a far better team than Slovakia. As a matter of fact, Slovakia is 1/40 to win the Championship, received one of the worst odds at this major event. Plus, Italy have all their key players ready for action, while Slovakia's young team is not very well connected. Our prediction is that Italy will win easily and move up in the standings, while Slovakia will stagnate.

Slovakia vs Italy Betting Tips

Italy to win @ 1/4 with 10Bet

The Italian team is actually the favourite to win the entire Pool B - which also consists of Germany, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic. There is no doubt that the skills, the experience and the team of the ones who beat World League champions France just two months ago will also defeat a much weaker team such as Slovakia. Given their last performances, our bet is on an outright victory of Italy @ 1/4 with 10Bet.

Italy -1.5 Set Handicap @ 9/11 with Unibet

In this case, betting on a handicap means Italy is favoured over Slovakia. Unibet offers a good price at 9/1 for a handicap of sets to level the playing field. Italy boast a stunning enough form to set a handicap and we don't expect resistance on the Slovakian's side since they've lost a lot of matches recently and their team morale is low. This pick is great for low riskers.

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