England welcome Italy to Wembley Stadium in a crunch Group C clash in UEFA Euro 2024 Qualifying.
Victory will see Gareth Southgate’s Three Lions stay top of Group C, whilst Italy will move level with England with a win but remain second on goal difference.
Team News
England have no fresh injury concerns to report following their friendly win over Australia in which only Lewis Dunk retained his place in the starting line-up.
Jordan Pickford, Harry Maguire, Marc Guehi, Declan Rice, Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane will be looking to start here, after having been amongst unused substitutes against Australia.
Italy have no fresh injury concerns following their victory over Malta on Saturday.
Nicolo Zaniolo and Sandro Tonali missed Italy’s victory against Malta for personal reasons and won’t be available for this match.
Ivan Provedel (pelvis), Federico Chiesa (muscle) and Mattia Zaccagni (ankle) withdrew prior to that match due to injuries.
When is Kick-Off?
England host Italy at Wembley Stadium, London, on Tuesday 17 October in a 7:45pm BST kick-off, live on Channl 4 in the UK.
Stat Attack
- England won their only previous UEFA Euro qualifier against Italy (W1), which saw them prevail 2-1 in March 2023.
- Italy are playing away to England for the first time in an UEFA Euro qualifier.
- England are unbeaten in their last four matches against Italy in all competitions played on English soil (W1, D3).
- Gareth Southgate’s Three Lions have conceded first in just one of their five qualifiers (W4, D1), which came in their 1-1 draw away to Ukraine in September 2023.
- Davide Frattesi has scored three goals in Italy’s last two matches (W2).
Prediction
Even though England are still unbeaten despite their much-changed lineup against Australia, there is a lot of work to do because their midfield passing need to be more attacking and less backwards, which Rice and Bellingham should hopefully provide in this game.
Up front, England lacked much end product often due to poor communication and accuracy when making passes into the box – especially from the right flank, which simply can’t happen against a gutsy Italian defence who will surely clear the ball up the pitch rapidly.
If there is one positive is that their defence handled Australia’s high-intensity attacking press rather well, which should be even more solid if Walker and Guehi returns to the line-up alongside Dunk who deserves to keep his starting spot once more.
Italy meanwhile will come here with full confidence after predictably thrashing Malta but for manager, Luciano Spalletti, this will be his toughest test yet in charge of the Italian national team after impressing at Napoli last season with an aggressive pressing style.
The big question though will be whether heavy rotation for England pays off because if they need time to settle and click into gear, Italy might well take advantage but the Three Lions should have enough to snatch a draw and keep qualification in their own hands.
Prediction: England 1-1 Italy
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