Verdict: Nicolo Barella to score.
Best odds: 29/10
Bookmaker: William Hill
On Tuesday evening, Italy welcome Bosnia and Herzegovina to the Allianz Stadium in Turin, the home of Serie A champions Juventus. The match will be a part of round four in Group J of Euro 2020 qualifiers.
Italy
The home team will certainly be the favorites to win this game, maybe even more so given how they thrashed Greece in Athens only a few days ago. Coach Roberto Mancini has put together a good unit, one that is more a team than a group of great individuals, which hasn’t always been the case when the Azzurri are concerned.
Against the Greeks, they showed fantastic capability of combining hard work, tactical discipline, responsible defending and clinical finishing. If they can repeat anything near that on Tuesday, they shouldn’t have many problems.
Italy enter this game topping the group with all nine points from opening three games.
Team News
In Athens, Salvatore Sirigu stood between the posts instead of the injured Gianluigi Donnarumma, and the 32-year-old was perhaps the only part of the team that looked a bit shaky in the previous match. But with Donnarumma still out, it’s to be expected that the Torino man will be given another shot to perform.
Bosnia
Meanwhile, Bosnia and Herzegovina’s main two stars are actually Serie A stars, and they will know all about the opposition in this contest. Midfielder Miralem Pjanić has been playing in Italy’s top flight for eight years now, five of which he spent at AS Roma before joining Juventus in 2015. Striker Edin Džeko, who won the Bundesliga with Wolfsburg in 2009 and the Premier League with Manchester City in 2014, currently plays for Roma.
The Balkan country share places three and four with the aforementioned Greece, with four points to their name.
Team News
Coach Robert Prosinečki might decide to wring some changes after his team unexpectedly lost to Finland on Saturday. The lack of Pjanić will still be a blow likely to be felt throughout the game, while left-back Sead Kolašinac and midfielder Rade Krunić remain out through injury.
Conclusion
Italy should really have no problems winning this game, but perhaps it would be more adventurous to try and hit a name on the scoresheet. Forwards Andrea Belotti and Lorenzo Insigne are the obvious choices, of course, but how about midfielder Nicolo Barella?
The 22-year-old Cagliari man is an extremely energetic player, a modern midfielder with a pronounced knack for running in behind defences and latching on to passes from deep, and with Jorginho and Marco Verratti likely to play alongside him, he should be short on those.
Verdict: Nicolo Barella to score.
Best odds: 29/10
Bookmaker: William Hill
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