France and Italy meet in Paris on Friday in a UEFA Nations League Group 1 clash, with both sides arriving after victories earlier this week.
The match at Stade de France will be Zinedine Zidane’s first home game in charge of France. His reign has begun with two wins from two away matches, including a 1-0 victory over Turkiye in Kocaeli, where captain Kylian Mbappe scored after half-time, and a success in Brussels on Monday.
Michael Olise came off the bench to secure the win against Belgium after France had twice hit the woodwork. The result was France’s seventh consecutive victory over their neighbours and left Les Bleus top of Group 1 with six points.
Zidane is now beginning a run of two home matches. His return to Paris carries added significance because he spent five years of his playing career at Juventus. “Zizou” last faced Italy in the 2006 World Cup final, which ended in defeat and was also his final match as a player.
France and Italy both won 3-1 away from home in the previous edition of the Nations League, while France have won four of their six meetings since Italy’s triumph in that World Cup final.
Italy began Roberto Mancini’s second spell as national manager with a disappointing 2-0 home defeat by Belgium. The Euro 2020-winning coach then saw his side respond emphatically, beating Turkiye 4-1 in Bursa on Monday.
Alessandro Bastoni, Davide Frattesi and Michael Kayode gave Italy a three-goal half-time lead, with Kayode making an impressive senior international debut. Pio Esposito, who had previously played alongside Kayode for Italy Under-21s, added a fourth after the hosts had pulled one back.
Esposito, an Inter Milan forward, has now scored six goals in 11 appearances for Italy. He started alongside his brother Sebastiano against Turkiye.
Mancini is using the Nations League to continue rebuilding his squad ahead of the next European Championship, following Italy’s recent failure in World Cup qualifying. After briefly returning to their training base, the Azzurri will travel to Paris before hosting Turkiye in Bologna three days later.
France’s Nations League form is W, W; Italy’s is L, W.
With four competitive matches in 11 days, Zidane could make further changes. Only Mike Maignan and Maxence Lacroix retained their places in the previous match. Jeremy Jacquet partnered Lacroix in central defence in the absence of Ibrahima Konate and William Saliba, while Andy Diouf and Lucas Da Cunha made their international debuts.
Mbappe was injured while scoring against Turkiye, so Esteban Lepaul started against Belgium and could make way for Ousmane Dembele. Mateo Retegui was not selected and Giacomo Raspadori is injured, leaving Moise Kean and Gianluca Scamacca competing with the Esposito brothers for a place.
Mancini initially named a 34-man squad, but 10 players were unused on Monday. Nicolo Barella, Honest Ahanor and Gianluca Mancini are among those who could return.
Predicted France XI: Maignan; Kalulu, Upamecano, Lacroix, Truffert; Cherki, Kone, Rabiot; Olise, Dembele, Doue.
Predicted Italy XI: Donnarumma; Kayode, Mancini, Bastoni, Calafiori; Barella, Fagioli, Tonali; S. Esposito, P. Esposito, Cambiaghi.
France’s three wins under Zidane have all been by one goal, but they are expected to have enough strength to exploit Italy’s uncertain defence.
Suggested bets: France to win and fewer than 4.5 goals at 1.81; Ousmane Dembele to score at 1.90; Desire Doue to score or assist at 1.85.
