This week sees the return of Euro 2024 qualifiers and these Italy vs. Malta predictions give Luciano Spalletti’s team a chance to boost their qualification chances. Italy have a game in hand on group leaders England, ahead of a Wembley showdown.
1 – Italy to win – 1/20
2 – Italy under 2.5 total goals – 2/1
3 – Total goals scored under 2.5 – 13/5
4 – Both teams not to score – 2/9
5 – Italy to win 2-0 – 5/1
Italy will be looking to utilise this international window to focus on securing their place at Euro 2024 next summer. Going into the penultimate round of qualifiers, Italy still have an extra game to play, behind Group C leaders England.
Italy are expected to cruise to victory in Bari against group whipping boys Malta, before a massively important trip to London in their second fixture of the window. Despite looking strongly placed to reach their goal of automatic qualification, Italy have made hard work of a battling Ukraine, in an attempt to match England in the race for a place in Germany.
Luciano Spalletti replaced Roberto Mancini over the summer but Italy have only scored three goals in two qualifiers under both managers, spread across four games in 2023.
Within that four-game streak, Italy have not scored over 2.5 goals in 90 minutes of action, and only two of those matches have involved over 2.5 total goals scored by both teams.
Spalletti will use this game as a testing ground for some players, as he puts together his plans for the England game. But there should be little issue in securing a win against a Malta team which has lost every competitive game they have played since June 2022.
Victory in Bari will put Italy on 10 points, behind England’s 13 but crucially ahead of third-place Ukraine on seven points, coming into this set of fixtures.
However, a poor result away in England could set up a winner takes all showdown with Ukraine in November if Serhiy Rebrov’s team remain on track to challenge Spalletti in the coming weeks.
You can stream Italy vs. Maltalive on Saturday evening on Viaplay.
| Player | Total goals |
|---|---|
| 3 | |
| 2 | |
| 2 | |
| 2 |
Italy (4-3-3): Donnarumma; Di Lorenzo, Scalvini, Bastoni, Udogie; Barella, Locatelli, Frattesi; Berardi, Rasparodri, Chiesa
Malta (3-5-2): Bonnello; Borg, Muscat, pepe; Mbong, Kristensen, Guillaumier, Camenzuli; Teuma, Yankam; Nwoko
Spalletti has a lengthy injury list to contend with, with Lorenzo Pellegrini, Ciro Immobile and Leonardo Spinazzola among the players missing for the home team. But Tottenham defender Destiny Odogie could feature after receiving a first senior call-up to the squad.
Malta have a largely home-based panel of players to pick from and head coach Michele Marcolini will surely opt for a defensive set-up. Midfielder Yannick Yankam is the only player to score for Malta in qualifying and he is set to start in Bari.
