Italy vs Portugal 18/11/18

18 November 2018

Italy will host Portugal at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza in Milano, looking to bridge the gap between the sides.

Gli Azzurri have started their UEFA Nations League journey off on the wrong foot, having played out a 1-1 draw with Poland before suffering a 1-0 defeat to Portugal on the road. However, La Nazionale clinched a significant 1-0 triumph over Poland during the last international break, as they now trail their upcoming rivals by two points. Before the aforementioned success, Roberto Mancini’s players have failed to secure a victory five times in a row, having lost two games while being held to three draws in the process. Moreover, Italy have kept a clean sheet just once in the previous nine encounters, while missing to finding the back of the net two times in that period.

On the other hand, with two wins in the opening two UEFA Nations League fixtures, A Seleção das Quinas currently top Group A/3. After a narrow win over Italy, the 2016 UEFA European Championship winners have outscored Poland on the road, having wrapped up a 3-2 triumph without their best player Cristiano Ronaldo. During the last international break, Portugal have also defeated Scotland in a friendly meeting by three goals to one, thus extending their winning run to three. However, Fernando Santos’ players have failed to keep a clean sheet in five out of the previous six matches across all competitions, but they’ve managed to find the back of the net in nine consecutive games.

Provisional line-up – Italy:

Gk: Gianluigi Donnarumma Defense: Leonardo Bonucci – Giorgio Chiellini – Alessandro Florenzi – Cristiano Biraghi Midfield: Jorginho – Marco Verratti – Lorenzo Pellegrini Attack: Lorenzo Insigne – Federico Chiesa – Ciro Immobile

Provisional line-up – Portugal:

Gk: Rui Patricio Defense: Jose Fonte – Pepe – Joao Cancelo – Raphael Guerreiro Midfield: William Carvalho – Ruben Neves – Pizzi Attack: Bernardo Silva – Goncalo Guedes – Andre Silva