Roberto Mancini could switch to a 3-5-2 system against England, trying to cope with injuries and be more productive offensively.
The Azzurri face England at San Siro tomorrow night and will be looking for a victory against the Three Lions to avoid relegation to League B.
Italy’s main issue is up front as Mancini’s men only scored 18 goals in the last 14 games. The European champions will be without the injured Federico Chiesa and Domenico Berardi, while Lorenzo Insigne hasn’t been called up.
In his latest press conference earlier this week, Mancini admitted that the lack of prolific strikers is a significant problem for Italy.
According to Il Corriere dello Sport, Sky Sport and Gazzetta, the Italy CT could switch to a 3-5-2 system against the Three Lions tomorrow night.
During yesterday’s training at Coverciano, Mancio tried Toloi, Bonucci and Bastoni in a three-man defence with Di Lorenzo, Barella, Jorginho, Tonali and Emerson in midfield, Raspadori and Immobile in attack.
He could still stick to the usual 4-3-3 line-up by using Di Lorenzo as a right-back (with Toloi on the bench), plus Manolo Gabbiadini, Raspadori and Immobile in attack, although the Samp and Sassuolo strikers are not natural wingers.
UPDATE: Tonali has been ruled out of the game and should be replaced by Tommaso Pobega.
Why isn’t Verratti playing
@Vincenzo Apparently he picked up a knock the other day