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England national football team
Euro Champ Qualifying | Group Stage
Oct 17, 2023 at 7.45pm UK
Wembley Stadium
Italy national football team

England
3 - 1
Italy

Kane (32' pen., 77'), Rashford (57')
Phillips (9')
FT(HT: 1-1)
Scamacca (15')
Udogie (10'), Di Lorenzo (30'), Scalvini (65')

Preview: England vs. Italy - prediction, team news, lineups

Sports Mole previews Tuesday's Euro Champ Qualifying clash between England and Italy, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.

Reuniting under the Wembley arch two years on from a gripping continental final, England and Italy do battle in a pivotal Euro 2024 qualifier in Group C on Tuesday evening.

Gareth Southgate's men are potentially just 90 minutes away from punching their ticket to Germany, although their three-point lead over the Azzurri is far from unassailable.


Match preview

England manager Gareth Southgate before the match on October 13, 2023© Reuters

With one eye on the impending visit of the European champions, England head coach Southgate promised to keep some of his more established internationals in bubble wrap on Friday night, as a host of fringe players took to the field to test their mettle against Australia.

However, the Wembley atmosphere was noticeably flat as a toothless Three Lions struggled to penetrate the Socceroos backline - while having to survive a scare or two themselves - but with 12 minutes gone in the second half, Ollie Watkins stuck out a leg to clinch the win at the back stick.

As is the case with any underwhelming England display, debate raged over Southgate's choice of personnel and tactics against Graham Arnold's side, but a triumph is a triumph for the Three Lions, who now don their competitive caps with the chance to seal Euro 2024 qualification with two games to spare.

Ukraine may have broken England's 100% record on matchday five in Group C, but with 13 points next to their name, the hosts need only defeat Italy on Tuesday to ensure a top-two finish, and even a draw would suffice if Ukraine - who have played a game more - are unable to beat resident minnows Malta.

Even if Southgate's men cannot complete the job in midweek, they will have another two bites at the cherry in showdowns with Malta and North Macedonia next month, and the Three Lions are on a magnificent 12-game winning streak in Euros qualifiers at home, keeping clean sheets in 10 of those contests.

Italy coach Luciano Spalletti reacts on October 14, 2023© Reuters

Aiming to put paid to that phenomenal record, Italy - who also have a game in hand on all the sides below them owing to their unsuccessful exploits in the Nations League Finals last year - refused to let an alarming illegal betting scandal derail their chances of a straightforward win over the Maltese on Saturday.

Becoming the oldest player to ever score his first Azzurri goal in some style, 34-year-old Giacomo Bonaventura curled home a wonderful opener before Domenico Berardi got in on the act with two sweetly-struck efforts of his own, and as the clock was winding down, there was enough time for Davide Frattesi to prolong his golden streak in Italy colours to cap off a routine 4-0 victory.

Nothing less than a multiple-goal thumping would have been acceptable for the Azzurri in Bari, as Luciano Spalletti's team dropped points in the section last month - being pegged back in a 1-1 draw with Macedonia - but Saturday's success has the champions sitting pretty in second place again.

Italy and fellow 10-pointers Ukraine are only separated by head-to-head results, though, and nothing can be decided regarding the Azzurri's top-two chances before the end of the month, although they will have their Nations League ranking to fall back on should they be demoted below the silver medal position.

However, the Azzurri faithful have few fond memories of their side's most recent playoff exploits in World Cup qualifying - which ended in North Macedonia-inflicted heartbreak - and England avenged their Euros final heartbreak with a 2-1 win in Naples seven months ago, but not since 2006 have Italy lost a continental qualifier away from home.

England Euro Champ Qualifying form:


England form (all competitions):


Italy Euro Champ Qualifying form:


Italy form (all competitions):


Team News

England's Jude Bellingham celebrates scoring their second goal with teammates on September 12, 2023© Reuters

Barring hamstring victim Bukayo Saka - who left St George's Park not long after his arrival - England boss Southgate has a full complement of players to work with and will no doubt make changes in abundance from Friday's uninspiring success.

The England head coach lashed out at boos towards captain Jordan Henderson on the evening, and the Al-Ettifaq man will be one of several players to drop down to the bench in order to allow Declan Rice to come back in, but Trent Alexander-Arnold could very well continue in a midfield role over Manchester City outcast Kalvin Phillips.

Jude Bellingham, Harry Kane, Phil Foden, Jordan Pickford and Kyle Walker will also return to the XI, while a fit-again John Stones was able to come off the bench against the Socceroos and is primed to partner Harry Maguire, in spite of the latter's prolonged absence from the Manchester United starting lineup.

Prior to the four-goal drubbing of Malta, Premier League duo Sandro Tonali and Nicolo Zaniolo were both caught up in the recent gambling allegations and withdrew from the Italy camp; Juventus' Nicolo Fagioli is also under investigation but was not called up anyway.

In addition, Fagioli's clubmate Federico Chiesa joined Ivan Provedel and Mattia Zaccagni on the injury withdrawals' list with a muscular problem, so Sassuolo stalwart Berardi ought to strut his stuff on the right-wing once more following his magnificent Malta display.

Bonaventura's history-making strike may not be enough to keep fellow goalscorer Frattesi at bay, though, while Napoli skipper Giovanni Di Lorenzo should return at right-back, forcing Matteo Darmian out of the XI in the process.


England possible starting lineup:
Pickford; Walker, Stones, Maguire, Trippier; Alexander-Arnold, Rice; Foden, Bellingham, Rashford; Kane

Italy possible starting lineup:
Donnarumma; Di Lorenzo, Mancini, Bastoni, Dimarco; Frattesi, Locatelli, Barella; Berardi, Raspadori, Kean


SM words green background

We say: England 1-0 Italy

An injury-hit Italy attack may have enjoyed a field day against Malta, but with the calibre of opposition - and indeed defending - increasing significantly on Tuesday, the Azzurri's 22-game unbeaten run on the road in Euros qualifiers is destined to come to an end.

England were far from convincing in their success over the Socceroos, but with a plethora of well-rested stars returning to the Wembley turf, another hard-fought win will do the trick and seal qualification for next year's showpiece with two games to spare.


For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.


Top tip

Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting over 1.5 goals in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.Over 1.5:data


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Game History

How you voted: England vs Italy

England
66.0%
Draw
17.7%
Italy
16.3%
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Group A

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1 Cyprus Cyprus00000
2 Georgia Georgia00000
3 Norway Norway00000
Q Scotland flag Scotland00000
Q Spain Spain00000

Group B

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Q France France00000
2 Gibraltar flag Gibraltar00000
3 Greece Greece00000
Q Netherlands Netherlands00000
5 Ireland Rep. Ireland00000

Group C

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Q England flag England00000
Q Italy Italy00000
3 Malta flag Malta00000
4 Macedonia N. Macedonia00000
5 Ukraine Ukraine00000

Group D

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1 Armenia Armenia00000
Q Croatia Croatia00000
3 Latvia Latvia00000
Q Turkey Turkey00000
5 Wales flag Wales00000

Group E

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Q Czech Republic Czech Republic00000
3 Faroe Islands Faroe Islands00000
4 Republic of Moldova Moldova00000
5 Poland Poland00000

Group F

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2 Azerbaijan Azerbaijan00000
Q Belgium Belgium00000
4 Estonia Estonia00000
5 Sweden Sweden00000

Group G

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Q Hungary Hungary00000
3 Lithuania Lithuania00000
4 Montenegro Montenegro00000
Q Serbia Serbia00000

Group H

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2 Finland Finland00000
3 Kazakhstan Kazakhstan00000
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5 San Marino flag San Marino00000
Q Slovenia Slovenia00000

Group I

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2 Belarus Belarus00000
3 Israel Israel00000
4 Kosovo flag Kosovo00000
Q Romania Romania00000
Q Switzerland Switzerland00000

Group J

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1 Bosnia Bosnia H'vina00000
2 Iceland Iceland00000
3 Liechtenstein flag Liechtenstein00000
4 Luxembourg flag Luxembourg00000
Q Portugal Portugal00000
Q Slovakia Slovakia00000


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