After qualifying for the quarter-finals of the Nations League, Italy and France lock horns against each other in a bid to finish as group leaders.
Italy confirmed their berth in the Nations League knockouts after recording a narrow 1-0 victory over Belgium in their previous outing. The Azzurri needed just a point from the match to progress to the quarters and Sandro Tonali’s 11th-minute strike was enough to coast them through. Italy have experienced their fair share of enduring moments under Luciano Spalletti but a renewed approach was noticed from him during this international break. Spalletti will hope to end the group stages without any further injuries and is expected to rotate his squad.
Meanwhile, France eye up the group leader spot when they meet Italy in Milan tonight. The arithmetic requires Les Bleus to win by two goals or more to topple the Azzurri in the standings. However, it remains to be seen whether Didier Deschamps is willing to push his players to that extent. France was frustrated in their last match versus Israel as they were held to a goalless draw and the absence of Kylian Mbappe from the squad was the centre of talk as the pressure came on Deschamps once again. Mike Maignan and Theo Hernandez are set to feature on their home turf tonight as Marcus Thuram is predicted to partner up with Kolo Muani upfront.
Here are the predicted line-ups for the match according to Sky Italia:
Italy (3-5-1-1): Donnarumma; Di Lorenzo, Buongiorno, Bastoni; Cambiaso, Barella, Locatelli, Tonali, Dimarco; Maldini; Retegui.
France (4-2-3-1): Maignan; Koundé, Saliba, Konaté, Digne; Koné, Rabiot; Olise, Nkunku, Coman; Thuram.
Trambak Bhattacherjee | GIFN
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