England will play host to Italy in a UEFA Nations League clash at Wolverhampton’s Molineaux Stadium on Saturday. Kickoff set for June 11, 2022 21:45 EAT.
Gareth Southgate’s men failed to give the greatest account of themselves as they sought to recover from their flat opening loss to Hungary during one of the more one-sided meetings between old foes Germany and England in recent years. England went back-to-back games without a win for the first time since September 2018, and not since the most recent World Cup year have the Three Lions suffered a longer streak without success in any competition.
The Three Lions prepare for this fixture coming off 1-1 Nations League draw with Germany in their last match. In that game, England had 37% possession 15 shots with six of them on target and a goal scored by Harry Kane (88′). Germany got 10 shots with six of them on target and a goal by Jonas Hofmann (50′).
Meanwhile, Italy has not lost a single game away from home since September 2018 – a 1-0 loss to Portugal in the Nations League – but no fans will be present at Molineux following the ugly scenes of crowd trouble before Mancini’s side defeated England on penalties in the Euro 2020 showpiece event. Italy’s victory against Hungary represents just their fourth triumph from 12 games in all competitions since their Euro 2020 success, while they have also now gone five games without keeping a clean sheet and must harness their away-day specialties if they are to glean a positive result in England.
The Azzuri will want another win following 2-1 Nations League victory to beat Hungary in their last fixture. In that game, Italy had 56% possession, 17 shots with six of them on target and goals scored by Nicolò Barella (30′), Lorenzo Pellegrini (45′) and Gianluca Mancini (61′ OG). Hungary got 12 shots with four of them on target.
England vs Italy head to head
Italy has an impressive head to head record against England having won five matches out of the eight meetings since 1980. Two matches played out stalemate while England has just one win.
- Italy 3-2 England 11/07/21
- England 1-1 Italy 27/03/18
- Italy 1-1 England 31/03/15
- England 1-2 Italy 15/06/14
- England 2-1 Italy 15/08/12
Home
- Germany 1-1 England
- Hungary 1-0 England
- England 3-0 Ivory Coast
- England 2-1 Switzerland
- San Marino 0-1 0England
Away
- Italy 2-1 Hungary
- Italy 1-1 Germany
- Italy 0-3 Argentina
- Turkey 2-3 Italy
- Italy 0-1 North Macedonia
England team news
James Justin has been ruled out due to an injury, while Kalvin Phillips and Fikayo Tomori are both doubtful.
Italy team news
Domenico Beradi, Moise Kean, Mattia Zaccagni, Nicolo Zaniolo, Andrea Pinamonti, Cristiano Biraghi and Enrico Chiesa are unavailable for the visitor’s squad through injuries.
Prediction and odds
The Azzurri are in their rebuilding phase and they can play without pressure while which will be an opportunity for England who won four of their past six overall fixtures, though their Nations League campaign have not gone according to plan so far.
- England Win
- Draw
- Goals under 2.5
