Game Preview: Italy vs. Czech Republic - World Cup Qualifiers - September 10th, 2013

Italy will be looking to qualify for the World Cup in Brazil when they meet Czech Republic in the eighth round of the qualifiers in Group B. The match is taking place at the Juventus Stadium in Turin on Tuesday, September 10th, 2013.

With three rounds of games remaining to be played, Italy are at the top of Group B tables with 17 points, followed by Bulgaria who have 10, and Czech Republic, Armenia and Denmark who have 9. At the bottom is Malta with 3 points. If they manage a win on Tuesday, Italy will automatically qualify for the World Cup in Brazil. Czech Republic, on the other hand, need something out of this game to stay in the race for second place finish and potential play-offs.

Czech Republic and Italy met in Prague earlier this year. The score in that match was a 0-0 draw. Italy are coming into this match after beating Bulgaria 1-0 on Friday, while Czech Republic suffered a surprise 1-2 loss to Armenia on the same day.

The odds for the upcoming match in Turin are as follows:

Italy: 4/7
Draw: 3/1
Czech Republic: 6/1

Italy are the favourites to win on Tuesday, according to the odds. A 100 € bet on the hosts could return 57 € in profit, while the same bet on Czech Republic could return 600 € in profit.

The most likely score is a 1-0 victory for Italy, offered at 9/2 (bet 100 € for a chance to profit 450 €).

Mario Balotelli is back from suspension and will be available for Italy. He is the favourite to score at 6/5 (bet 100 € for a chance to win 120 €). Vaclav Kadlec is the favourite to score for Czech Republic at 7/2 (bet 100 € for a chance to profit 350 €).

Is Italy going to be among the first nations to secure qualification to the World Cup in Brazil on Tuesday, or will Czech Republic make a statement and beat the odds?

Should be a hard fought game!