International Football Preview - England vs Italy

The friendly between England and Italy is a rematch of the European Championship quarter final that Italy won on a tense penalty shootout.  This is England’s first game since that match and the memory of the loss will still be at the forefront of their mind, their team for this match will be much different from the previous match however with many dropouts and injuries.

England will be starting the game with a new goalkeeper after Joe Hart had to pull out the squad through injury, either Jack Butland or John Ruddy will replace him.  They will not be the only new faces in the squad with others such as Michael Carrick and Adam Johnson called up again after being overlooked for the Euros.  They will be supplemented by young players who are being integrated into the squad with one eye on the future.  This includes Chelsea defender Ryan Bertrand has already played in a Champions League final and he will be aiming to push on for more first team appearances for Chelsea and eventually England.  Steven Caulker was impressive on loan at Swansea last year and the young defender will be aiming to force his way into the Spurs first team this term.  Fresh off his move to Man City, Jack Rodwell is also included and the defensive midfielder could be aiming to replace club mate Gareth Barry for City and England over the next few years.

Italy will be without star striker Mario Balotelli who has withdrawn from the squad with conjunctivitis.  The Italy squad in general will be looking at new players with 8 uncapped players being called up and no one from Juventus or Napoli involved due to domestic competition.  With no Pirlo and Balotelli Italy will be without their two top performers from an excellent Euro 2012 tournament and it will be left to the newcomers to step up and win a place in the team going into World Cup qualifiers.

England is favourites for the match at 2.5, with Italy at 3.12 and the draw at 3.3.  Both squads are full of young and untested players so it will be difficult to interpret which team will be best placed to win the game.  It is important to keep an eye on any more players dropping out of the squad and the experience of their replacements.  England brought Joleon Lescott into the squad as an injury replacement so they may well turn to more experienced players to fill in any gaps rather than bring in more young untried players.  Keep checking howtobet for more up to date discussion and betting tips as we get closer to the match.