Pirlo - key figure for Italy.

By Jonathan Turner

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Betting Box Tipping Guide

BETTING BOX
FIXED ODDS
	1pt on Andrea Pirlo to score anytime for Italy at 6/1 (BetFred).	Three goals in last ten competitive games suggests price is too big.
	1pt on Andriy Shevchenko to score anytime for Ukraine at 12/5 (Blue Square).	The main threat for Ukraine and could take advantage against patched-up defence.

Italy are big favourites to beat Ukraine in Friday night's World Cup quarter-final in Hamburg but we'd debate whether they've produced the sort of form to justify those quotes.

The Azzurri didn't do too much wrong in a tough group, beating Ghana and the Czech Republic as well as drawing with the USA in a match shaped by three red cards.

And they have to be given plenty of credit for eventually getting past Australia in the last 16 after playing the bulk of the second half with only ten men.

But there are still question marks against them - with playmaker Francesco Totti looking nowhere near his best after a season ruined by injury while striker Luca Toni simply hasn't been able to translate his Serie A form to the biggest stage.

Totti was rightly dropped to the bench against the Aussies before coming on to slot home the injury-time penalty which settled the match, while Toni has missed too many decent chances for comfort for those who lump on the Italians at no better than 8/13 to win inside 90 minutes.

And at the back there has to be real concern that Alessandro Nesta again misses out through injury as the AC Milan centre-back would have been the ideal man to mark former club colleague Andriy Shevchenko.

His replacement Marco Materazzi is suspended after being red-carded against Australia which means Marcello Lippi will have no choice but to play with Palermo's Andrea Barzagli alongside Fabio Cannavaro in the heart of the Azzurri's defence.

That vulnerability at the back and toothlessness up front still shouldn't prevent Italy progressing against an average-looking Ukraine outfit but it's enough to put us off getting involved at the prices on offer.

Equally though it's difficult to make a case for a Ukraine side which was thrashed 4-0 by Spain in their opening game and which rarely looked like breaking down a stubborn Switzerland in a turgid encounter last time out.

They eventually went through on penalties but until Shevchenko gets better service and support up front they are going to struggle against the stronger sides.

We're therefore going to approach the match from a slightly different perspective and suggest two anytime scorer wagers as the best route to profit.

First up is Andrea Pirlo to find the net for the Italians at a whopping 6/1.

He set the Azzurri on their way in this tournament with a great strike against Ghana and was outstanding in the group stages.

Admittedly he didn't quite hit the same heights against Australia but he's such a key creative influence for Italy - especially if Totti doesn't play - that 6/1 seems generous.

As well as his goal against Ghana, he scored twice in six qualifying games before the finals and is also Italy's main free-kick specialist.

Turning to Ukraine and it doesn't take a genius to suggest that by far their most likely scorer is Shevchenko.

He's netted in two of his four games already and with the problems at the heart of Italy's defence the 12/5 about him doing so again on Friday is worth an interest.

He's been lethal against the tighest of defences during his time in Serie A and this match gives him the perfect chance to bid farewell to Italian football in style.

Whether it will be enough to get his side into the semi-finals is highly debatable but that sort of price is hard to resist about a man who averages nearly a goal every other game for his country and who is facing a patched-up Italian backline.