Italy will host Malta as they look to reduce the gap between themselves and group leaders England. In their most recent Euro 2024 qualifying match, the Azzurri defeated Ukraine 2-1. Their bottom-dwelling guests were easily dispatched by North Macedonia in a 2-0 defeat.
Preview (Italy vs. Malta)
Italy can put pressure on the Three Lions going into next Tuesday’s tantalizing Wembley reunion because their Euro 2020 final opponents are taking a brief break from competitive play to test their mettle against Australia in a friendly. Spalletti’s team has responded to losing their first match of the title defense 2-1 to Gareth Southgate’s furious squad by winning seven of the last nine points available in Group C, despite the Azzurri not exactly asserting their superiority in September.
Prior to a tight 2-1 victory over the Ukrainians, Italy had a disappointing 1-1 draw away to North Macedonia. The Ukrainians came back to tie the game through Andriy Yarmolenko. Italy held on to go into second position in the competitive section. The unbeaten England leads the section with 13 points, followed by all of Italy, Ukraine, and North Macedonia. However, thanks to their recent Nations League efforts, where they defeated the Netherlands. Spalletti’s men have a game in hand on all of the teams around them.
Italy’s home loss to England in March was their only defeat in their last 44 European Championship qualifying games. The reigning champions haven’t failed to score at this stage since a goalless draw with Northern Ireland in 2010. These statistics don’t give Malta much cause for optimism. The world’s 171st-ranked country remains at the bottom of Group C with just one point. They can no longer finish higher than third and any sudden dash for a top-two finish. The Maltese supporters have at least had something to cheer after a pair of 1-0 victories over Luxembourg and Gibraltar. Gibraltar is one of just two goalless teams that have performed worse offensively than the Reds in UEFA groups.
Team News
With Gianluca Scamacca and Federico Chiesa still recovering from injuries, Italy manager Spalletti might be tempted to change up his lineup this weekend given the different caliber of competition for their two games this month. Mattia Zaccagni, a 17-goal striker, and Ivan Provedel, an uncapped Lazio goalkeeper and Champions League goal scorer, have both pulled out of Spalletti’s team, adding to Italy’s offensive dilemma. As a result, neither Ciro Immobile nor the 17-goal striker is available to Spalletti this month.
Spalletti is believed to have used Moise Kean, Giacomo Raspadori, and Domenico Berardi as the attacking triad in training this week due to the obvious dearth of offensive options, although Frattesi’s crucial brace against Ukraine may help his chances of getting another start in the engine room. Malta may relate to the lack of an offensive threat because Jodi Jones of Notts County and Teddy Teuma of Reims, who has four goals and two assists through eight Ligue 1 games, are both injured and out of the running for the starting position. Additionally, during the team’s defeat to North Macedonia in September, captain Steve Borg received his third Group C booking. As a result, either Jean Borg, who is not related to Steve, or Kurt Shaw will captain the team on Saturday instead.
Italy 4 – 0 Malta
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