Special Edition: The Golden Guggets World Cup 2010 - Italy v New Zealand

By Sports Magician

Italian sides are not normally known for expansive football that produces plenty of goals but the defending World Cup champions have the chance to do just that against New Zealand on Sunday. Italy have been rocked by the news that Gianluigi Buffon has been ruled out of the competition and are still likely to be without Andrea Pirlo against the ‘All Whites’. However, that doesn’t diminish the fact that the two sides are worlds apart. Alberto Gilardino had a poor game against a tough Paraguay defence in the opening match and will be keen to get off the mark before his place in the side comes under scrutiny - with Serie A top goalscorer Antonio Di Natale breathing down his neck. Italy beat New Zealand 4-3 last year before the Confederations Cup, in which Gilardino scored twice, and we’ll be backing him to do just that on Sunday. The Italians won’t score many goals in this tournament, but they have more than enough to consistently create chances against a spirited but out of their depth Kiwi side.

PICK: 2*ALBERTO GILARDINO TO SCORE TWO OR MORE GOALS AGAINST NEW ZEALAND @ 8.00 (BET 365)

PICK: 4*ITALY TO SCORE OVER 2.5 GOALS AGAINST NEW ZEALAND @ 2.75 (BET 365)

Sports Magician