Bulgaria vs Italy prediction for Sunday’s World Cup Qualifier clash at Nacionalen Stadion Vasil Levski in Sofia. Bulgaria after losing their opening Group C match against Switzerland, host Italy winners of their opening match against N. Ireland. Read on for our free prediction and betting tips.
Bulgaria looking for improvement
In their match against Switzerland, Bulgaria were down by three goals after just 12 minutes. They fought back in the match and were able to get one goal back, something they have done just once in their last four games prior to the match versus the Swiss.
Bulgaria are one of the weaker teams in Group C. They are 68th on the FIFA world ranking chart and have just Lithuania lower than them in the group. Bulgaria haven’t beaten a team higher than them in the ranks in eight matches.
Coach Yasen Petrov will hope his team can repeat the feat that they never lost at home to Italy before. He has to improve his defense though as they have let in eight goals in five matches.
Italy to break the winless spell in Sofia
Coach Roberto Mancini has a very promising squad at his disposal. A mixture of experience and young talent has made the Squadra Azzurra one of the best teams in Europe again after the disappointment of failing to qualify for the last World Cup in Russia.
Coming into this match against Bulgaria, Mancini will be keen to erase that record of not having won in Bulgaria before by relying on his attacking force of Insigne, Belotti, and Berardi. The trio had a good game in their opening match against Northern Ireland.
In the match against N.Ireland, Both Berardi and Immobile were on target, making it the Italian’s third 2-0 win in a row. Mancini’s men had 62% of ball possession and 12 goal attempts of which 5 were on target.
Key Points
Bulgaria vs Italy Prediction
The fact that Bulgaria have not lost to Italy in Sofia ever will give the home side a confidence boost but there is a big difference between these two teams in recent games as we can see through their statistics.
If we look at both teams scored goals in their matches we observe that in Bulgaria’s last nine matches, there has been under 3.5 goals in seven of them. While under 3.5 goals were scored in Italy’s seven of ten matches.
With Bulgaria being more cautious at the back not to have the same fate as the first match and Italy not scoring more than two goals in their last three matches and the bookies paying 1.50 for under 3.5 goals, we will back this bet.
Bulgaria vs Italy Prediction
Under 3.5 Total Match Goals 1.50 or ½ at William Hill
Double Chance Home or Draw 4.33 or 10/3 at William Hill