Football Bet of the Day: 4/1 #PickYourPunt from Gelsenkirchen

Spain laid down a marker to their rivals with their convincing 3-0 victory over Croatia in their opening fixture. They take on Italy in Gelsenkirchen on Thursday night (20:00, ITV1/STV), who also got off to a winning start, beating Albania 2-1 after going behind in the first minute.

Both have the chance to book their place in the last 16 with a win here, so both teams will be up for the fight and I expect we could be in for a cracker. That is why I have hand-picked my football bet of the day from this contest, which you will find below.

Spain vs Italy Odds

Using Betfred's #PickYourPunt feature, I have put together three selections to build a 4/1 bet for this match. First and foremost, it includes Spain to win. Sorry Italy fans but I was very impressed with how they played against Croatia and how comfortable they were at times.

Italy on the other hand, just about got the job done against Albania. They did well to come from behind and win but they are coming up against a much bigger fish in Spain, who do look like they can go far in this tournament.

Captain Alvaro Morata opened his account for the tournament and got La Roja up and running against Croatia, taking his tally at Euros finals to seven, the joint-third total in history.

He finds himself two behind Michel Platini and seven adrift of Cristiano Ronaldo, who will be hoping to increase the gap himself this tournament. Morata will have plenty of service with the likes of Fabian Ruiz, Rodri, Pedri and Lamine Yamal around him, so he could be a decent shot for the Golden Boot.

Those players will be crucial for Spain in Gelsenkirchen, and I think their collective quality outmatches that of what Italy has to offer.

Euro 2024 Odds

The next part of the bet has Yamal and Italy's Gianluca Scamacca to both have at least one shot on target. Yamal, the 16-year-old sensation, looked right at home playing against Croatia and you wouldn't have thought it was his Euros debut.

He had a couple of decent opportunities to score in that match and one of them was brilliantly denied by shot-stopper Dominik Livakovic. The teenage star plays on the right side of the attack but is left-footed, so his preference is to work his way inside and open the goal up.

I cannot seeing him losing his place in the La Roja starting lineup after his impressive performance in Berlin, and I think he will present a tough test for the Italian back line. He registered three attempts on goal with one on target, so I expect he can at least manage that feat against Italy on Thursday.

Scamacca carries the Azzurri's biggest goal threat this summer but he was not on the scoresheet against Albania. He did however, also manage three efforts at goal in that match, and like Yamal, hit the target once.

The striker will be hoping to open his account against Spain, and he will be more of a nuisance to their as yet to be tested defence than the likes of Andrej Kramaric and Ante Budimir were for Croatia.

The Italian had an amazing season with Atalanta in Serie A, winning the Europa League and scoring 19 goals across all competitions. I'm confident he will get a chance or two in this fixture, and I do think that he will hit the target.

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Betfred are running their famed Double Delight & Hat-trick Heaven offer on this match, meaning that if a player scores first and then nets again, you will be paid at double the odds. If he grabs a hat-trick, you will be paid at treble the odds!

Thursday (20/06): Place an In-Play bet of £10 or more odds of 1/2+ on Slovenia v Serbia or Denmark v England and get £5 in Free Bets to use In-Play on Spain v Italy.

You can read all our latest Euro 2024 Betting Tips at our dedicated Betfred Insights content hub.