Venue: Olympia Friday, June 19th 2009 Kick-Off:15:00 Subscribe to Sky Now

Hosts Sweden face Italy in their second European Under-21's Championship finals game in Helsingborg on Friday afternoon live on Sky Sports.

The hosts face the difficult task of beating tournament favourites Italy, who have triumphed in five previous European Under-21's Championships. The Swedes however have home advantage on their side going into this clash and the home crowd are expectant of progression. The Swedish however have only played friendly's in the last few years, but the players are likely to be fit and ready to cause an upset against the highly fancied Italians.

Sweden got their European Under-21 Championship campaign off to a magnificent start by beating Belarus 5-1 on Tuesday so they'll be full of confidence when they take on Italy in their second match.

Tommy Soderborg and Jorgen Lennartsson's side had to come from behind to beat the eastern Europeans but eventually managed to win at a canter. Marcus Berg - already capped at senior international level - was star of the show for the host nation, scoring a hat-trick against opponents whose defence parted far too easily, while Gustav Svensson impressed fans with a superb 25-yard curling drive to round off the 5-1 romp.

Sweden will qualify for the semi-finals if they beat Italy, but the Azzurrini will pose a far stiffer test than the Belarusians.

The Italian are the most successful team ever to appear in the European Under-21's Championship and this year's squad is full of potential stars of the future. Juventus playmaker Sebastien Giovinco, Milan striker Alberto Paloschi and Inter's Roberto Acquafresca all tipped to be future world stars. They also have the outstanding Inter striker Mario Balotelli, who terrorised Serie A defences last season at the tender age of just 18.

Pierluigi Casiraghi's side started their campaign with a 0-0 draw against Serbia on Tuesday afternoon but there were a few concerns because a fine first-half performance gave way to an unsure one after the break. Mario Balotelli showed plenty of promise in forward positions but Juventus' Sebastian Giovinco missed a glorious chance to give Italy the lead in the second-half and the Italians faded late on as Serbia finished far more strongly.

There's no doubt the host nation have gathered a head of steam thanks to that magnificent win earlier this week and will enjoy terrific support from a crowd in excess of 10,000 at the Olympia. Italy need to win, but the pragmatism that's part of their footballing DNA suggests they wouldn't be totally unhappy with a point, knowing they've an easier game against Belarus still to come.

Dave's Prediction:

Sweden 1 Italy 2 @ 9.50 with Centrebet