Roberto Mancini is expected to show the new face of the Italian national team in their Nations League third-place match with the Netherlands.
The match between the Oranje and the Azzurri kicks off at 14.00 UK time at De Grolsch Veste – the home of FC Twente – in Enschede, the Netherlands.
Italy disappointed in their Nations League semi-final clash with Spain, losing 2-1 after a painful late goal from Joselu. Mancini was heavily criticised after the match, with many frustrated with his continued loyalty to the core that won Euro 2020 two years ago.
As such, the Azzurri are expected to feature a number of future stars, like Wilfried Gnonto and Mateo Retegui, leaving others like Ciro Immobile and Jorginho on the bench. The team are also expected to return to a 4-3-3 formation, something that proved successful in the past.
The Netherlands lost to Croatia in dramatic fashion in their Nations League semi-final clash. Zlatko Dalic’s side held a 2-1 lead until the 96th minute, when Noa Lang netted a late equaliser, pushing the game to extra time. In the resulting 30-minute spell, Bruno Petkovic and Luka Modric scored to close out the win for Croatia.
Probable line-ups for the Netherlands vs Italy
Netherlands (4-2-3-1): Bijlow; Dumfries, Geertruida, Van Dijk, Aké; Wieffer, De Jong; Malen, Koopmeiners, Simons, Gakpo.
Italy (4-3-3): Donnarumma; Toloi, Acerbi, Buongiorno, Dimarco; Verratti, Cristante, Pellegrini; Gnonto, Retegui, Raspadori.
With due respect how can acerbi, toloi and cristante ,verratti be the future of the nazionale??