European champions Italy play Spain tonight in the semi-finals of the Uefa Nations League, who will be out to avenge their defeat to Azzurri in the last four of Euro 2020 in July.
Italy defeated Spain 4-2 on penalties to advance to the Euro 2020 final after the teams played out an enthralling 1-1 draw at Wembley. Federico Chiesa’s strike was cancelled out by Alvaro Morata’s finish, as Luis Enrique’s side produced their best performance of the tournament before being eliminated on spot kicks.
Roberto Mancini’s Italy have since broken the world record for the longest international unbeaten run, but they dropped points to both Bulgaria and Switzerland in September’s World Cup qualifying fixtures.
Spain, meanwhile, lost their first World Cup qualifier since 1993 last month as Sweden produced a 2-1 win, and La Roja are without a number of first-team players for tonight’s match due to injuries.
Here’s everything you need to know for the match this evening.
When is Italy vs Spain?
The match kicks off at 7:45pm BST on Wednesday 6 October and will be played at the San Siro in Milan.
How can I watch it?
It will be shown live on Sky Sports Football, with coverage starting at 7:30pm. If you’re not a Sky customer you can grab a NOWTV Day Pass here to watch without a subscription.
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What’s the team news?
Italy are without their two main strikers from their Euro 2020 campaign, with both Ciro Immobile and Andrea Belotti unavailable due to injury. That opens up an opportunity for either 21-year-old Sassuolo striker Giacomo Raspadori, who scored his first goal for the Azzurri in September, or Moise Kean, who scored twice on his last appearance for the national team.
The rest of the Italy side will be made of up the team that featured against Spain and England for Roberto Mancini’s side at the European Championships in July.
Spain have been hit by a number of injuries for the Nations League semi-final, with Gerard Moreno, Alvaro Morata, Pedri, Dani Olmo and Jordi Alba all out. West Ham’s Pablo Fornals and Manchester City’s Ferran Torres could be handed starts for Luis Enrique’s side, while 17-year-old Barcelona midfielder Gavi could make his international debut.
Possible line-ups
Italy: Donnarumma; Di Lorenzo, Bonucci, Chiellini, Emerson; Barella, Jorginho, Verratti; Chiesa, Kean, Insigne
Spain: Unai Simon; Azpilicueta, Laporte, Pau Torres, Reguilon; Koke, Busquets, Fornals; Ferran Torres, Oyarzabal, Sarabia
Odds
Italy: 6/5
Draw: 21/10
Spain: 11/4
Prediction
Backed by a home crowd and with the confidence that comes with recently winning a major tournament, everything points to another Italy win here, this time in 90 minutes against a weakened Spain side. Italy 2-0 Spain
