Italy start Ciro Immobile, Andrea Belotti and Marco Verratti in a 3-5-2 formation for the World Cup play-off first leg in Sweden.
It kicks off at the Friends Arena in Solna at 19.45 GMT, with the decider in Milan on Monday evening.
Italy start Ciro Immobile, Andrea Belotti and Marco Verratti in a 3-5-2 formation for the World Cup play-off first leg in Sweden.
It kicks off at the Friends Arena in Solna at 19.45 GMT, with the decider in Milan on Monday evening.
Coach Giampiero Ventura has dropped the 4-2-4 system used in qualifying, but ignored calls to switch to 4-3-3 and has instead adopted a 3-5-2 tactic.
Simone Zaza is out due to a knee injury he sustained in training on Thursday, a heavy blow considering the Valencia forward’s form and his likely spot in the starting XI.
He is not the only player in the stands, as Stephan El Shaarawy, Leonardo Spinazzola and Danilo D’Ambrosio are whittled out of the 23-man squad.
This means Torino striker Belotti is chosen to partner Lazio hitman Immobile in a 3-5-2 formation, despite not being 100 per cent fit after returning from a month out with a knee problem.
Much is expected of Immobile, who has scored a remarkable 18 goals in 15 competitive games for Lazio this season, along with seven assists.
He has also found the net six times in his last 13 Italy appearances.
It’s a reunion for the BBC defence of Andrea Barzagli, Leonardo Bonucci and Giorgio Chiellini, with captain Gigi Buffon coming full circle, having made his senior Italy debut in the 1997 World Cup play-off against Russia.
Verratti is protected in midfield by Daniele De Rossi and Marco Parolo, while Antonio Candreva and Manchester United’s Matteo Darmian take the wings.
Italy need to be very careful ahead of the second leg, because Immobile, Chiellini, Verratti and Parolo are all one yellow card away from a ban.
Sweden have defender Mikael Lustig suspended, but ex-Cagliari midfielder Albin Ekdal appears to have shaken off his injury concerns and is ready to start with Sebastian Larsson.
This bumps AEK Athens midfielder Jakob Johansson to the bench, despite playing regularly for Sweden in recent months.
Viktor Claesson takes the right-wing role in a 4-4-2 formation, but RB Leipzig star Emil Forsberg is the danger man on the left, as the 26-year-old has three goals and two assists at club level this season.
Forsberg also has four goals and two assists in his last eight caps for Sweden.
Victor Lindeloff has struggled at Manchester United, but still starts in defence with Bologna right-back Emil Krafth.
Marcus Berg was their top scorer in qualifying with eight goals and he is partnered by veteran Toulouse centre-forward Ola Toivonen.
It has been said that Janne Andersson’s Sweden became more of a team since Zlatan Ibrahimovic retired from international duty and they’ll certainly want to prove themselves after a very strong qualifying campaign.
These sides have met 23 times before, with 11 Italy victories, six draws and six stalemates.
The most recent saw Eder’s late goal give the Azzurri a 1-0 result in the Euro 2016 group stage.
Perhaps the most infamous crossing of paths was at Euro 2004, when their game ended 1-1, but above all a 2-2 draw between Sweden and Denmark knocked the Nazionale out.
Italy’s last defeat to Sweden was 1-0 in Solna on June 6, 1987 as part of the qualifying stage for the 1988 European Championship, followed by three victories and a stalemate.
Sweden: R Olsen; Krafth, Granqvist, Lindelof, Augustinsson; Claesson, Ekdal, Larsson, Forsberg; Berg, Toivonen
Sweden bench: Johnsson, Nodfeldt, Larsson, Olsson, Guidetti, Johansson, Helander, Svensson, Jansson, Rohden, Thelin, Sema
Italy: Buffon; Barzagli, Bonucci, Chiellini; Candreva, Parolo, De Rossi, Verratti, Darmian; Immobile, Belotti
Italy bench: Donnarumma, Perin, Rugani, Gagliardini, Florenzi, Insigne, Astori, Jorginho, Eder, Bernardeschi, Zappacosta, Gabbiadini
Ref: Cakir (TUR)