In a repeat of last summer’s European Championship final, Italy and England will do battle at the San Siro on Friday night. Can the Three Lions gain their revenge?
The two sides will renew their rivalry in the UEFA Nations League, although both teams find themselves at the bottom of Group C.
A quick glimpse at today's first session 🥅 ⚽#NationsLeague #Azzurri #VivoAzzurro pic.twitter.com/iR1AG3qfPU— Italy ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (@Azzurri_En) September 19, 2022
A quick glimpse at today's first session 🥅 ⚽#NationsLeague #Azzurri #VivoAzzurro pic.twitter.com/iR1AG3qfPU
Last-place England trail third-place Italy by three points. Meanwhile, first-place Hungary lead second-place Germany by a point.
Italy have only managed to win one of their four Nations League games this year, registering two draws and one defeat in the process.
After drawing with Germany (1-1), the Italians beat Hungary (2-1) before playing out a goalless draw with England.
In their previous outing back in June, Italy suffered a 5-2 thrashing at the hands of the Germans – conceding five goals before scoring two late consolations.
Italy have struggled for consistency since winning Euro 2020, recording four wins, six draws and four losses since lifting the trophy last summer.
Meanwhile, England remain winless in this year’s Nations League – having registered two draws and two defeats.
The Three Lions were beaten by Hungary (1-0) before recording back-to-back draws against Germany (1-1) and Italy (0-0). Last time out, they suffered a 4-0 thrashing to the Hungarians.
Gareth Southgate’s side racked up a four-game winning streak between November 2021 and March 2022 before enduring a four-game winless run.
If England lose on Friday night, they will suffer Nations League relegation. Needless to say, they will be desperate to avoid humiliation.
Head-to-head: It is worth noting that each of the past four meetings between Italy and England ended in a draw after 90 minutes.
England have only managed to win one of their last ten meetings with Italy in all competitions. Interestingly, all of those games produced under 3.5 goals.
Team news: Italy have called up Lazio’s Ivan Provedel, Empoli’s Gugielmo Vicario and Salernitana’s Pasquale Mazzocchi for the first time.
Ivan Toney and Eric Dier have been named in the England squad. However, Kalvin Phillips has withdrawn due to a shoulder injury.
When you couple Italy’s strong record against the Three Lions with England’s recent Nations League form, all the signs point towards a home win on Friday.
With that in mind, Forebet predicts that Italy will beat England – scoring over 1.5 goals while keeping a clean sheet.