England and Italy will be hoping to book their place in a first ever Under-20 World Cup final when they come face-to-face in Jeonju on Thursday.
Having made it to this stage for the first time since the 1993 tournament, the Young Lions are now 11/8 (2.38) favourites with Paddy Power to go one better by making it through to the final with victory here.
Alberigo Evani’s team have already done better than any of their predecessors in this competition by reaching the last four, but are on offer at 15/8 (2.88) to continue their journey by coming out on top at the Jeonju World Cup Stadium.
Getty ImagesThe Italians needed extra-time to overcome Zambia 3-2 in the quarter-finals, and you can get odds of 15/8 (2.88) on them playing out another stalemate after 90 minutes in this one.
While on the face of it that extra-time victory over Zambia may not seem overly impressive, the Azzurrini must receive plenty of credit for character considering they played for over 75 minutes with just 10 men.
Seemingly on the way home after going a goal behind within five minutes and then having a man sent off just before half-time, they impressively summoned the energy to come from behind twice before grabbing an 111th-minute winner in Suwon.
Although they would surely struggle to complete a similar comeback against Paul Simpson’s tournament favourites, Evani’s side will certainly fancy their chances in front of goal after scoring twice in each of the last three fixtures.
However, considering they have also conceded in all but one of their five matches in South Korea so far, odds of 11/10 (2.10) seem very generous on them being joined on the scoresheet by an England team that has only failed to find the net once in their last 19 games.
| Both teams to score at 11/10 (2.10) for a 2pt stake with Paddy Power |
