Following a disappointing 1-1 draw with North Macedonia, Italy will be looking to reignite their Euro 2024 qualifying campaign when Ukraine visit the San Siro on Tuesday.
Having recorded one win, one draw and one loss, the Italians find themselves third in Group C – three points shy of second-placed Ukraine.
Recovery 🔋 pic.twitter.com/Yez8XDTj2M— Ukrainian Association of Football (@uafukraine) September 10, 2023
Recovery 🔋 pic.twitter.com/Yez8XDTj2M
With group leaders England sitting six points clear of Ukraine and nine points above Italy, the result of Tuesday’s showdown is vitally important.
On Saturday, Italy shared the spoils with North Macedonia, despite racking up 73% possession and nine shots throughout the contest.
Ciro Immobile gave his side the lead in the 47th minute, but an 81st-minute equaliser from Enis Bardhi ensured that North Macedonia snatched a point late on.
The Italians started their Euro 2024 qualifying journey with a 2-0 defeat against England back in March before beating Malta by the same scoreline.
Since then, Italy have lost a Nations League semi-final to Spain before beating the Netherlands in the third-place playoff.
As for Ukraine, they secured a hard-fought 1-1 draw with England on Saturday, despite registering a solitary attempt on target while seeing just 31% of the ball.
Arsenal’s Oleksandr Zinchenko put his country ahead midway through the first half before his former teammate, Manchester City’s Kyle Walker, equalised before half time.
Ukraine also lost 2-0 to England in their first qualifier, but they have since recorded two wins and two draws to notch a four-game unbeaten streak.
Following a 3-3 friendly draw with Germany, the Ukrainians claimed back-to-back victories over North Macedonia and Malta to enhance their chances of qualification.
Head-to-head: Ukraine have failed to win any of their eight previous meetings with Italy, suffering six defeats along the way.
The two nations last met in the friendly back in 2018, with the Ukrainians holding the Italians to a 1-1 draw in Genoa on that occasion.
Team news: Italy trio Giacomo Raspadori, Wilfried Gnonto and Nicolo Zaniolo will be pushing to start on Tuesday after coming off the bench last time out.
Not only can Ukraine call up Arsenal’s Zinchenko, but they also have Chelsea’s Mykhailo Mudryk, Everton’s Vitalii Mykolenko and Bournemouth’s Illya Zabarnyi in their ranks.
Although Italy have struggled for consistency in recent times, they shouldn’t struggle to get the better of Ukraine on home soil.
Forebet predicts that Italy will make light work of Ukraine at the San Siro, with the hosts scoring over 3.5 goals while keeping a clean sheet.