Nicolo Fagioli has been given Italy’s prestigious number 10 shirt for Friday’s Nations League match against France after Giacomo Raspadori withdrew from Roberto Mancini’s squad.
Italy face France at the Stade de France in what is described as Zinedine Zidane’s first home match in charge of Les Bleues. Kick-off is scheduled for 19.45 BST, with Mancini preparing for the most demanding test of his second spell as Italy manager.
The Azzurri arrive in France after contrasting results during the international break. They were beaten 2-0 at home by Belgium before responding with a 4-1 victory away to Turkey on Monday evening. France have recorded 1-0 away wins against both Turkey and France during the September-October international break.
Because Friday’s fixture is a competitive Nations League match, Mancini has named a 23-player matchday squad. Massimo Pessina, Diego Coppola, Daniele Ghilardi, Eddy Koaudio, Alessandro Romano, Rolando Mandragora, Nicolo Cambiaghi and Samuele Inacio have remained at Coverciano.
Honest Ahanor was also left out for the France game. He has instead joined Silvio Baldini’s Italy Under-21 squad for their important European Championship qualifier against Poland on Monday night.
Italy have also lost Nicolo Zaniolo and Raspadori to injury, with neither player replaced in the squad. Federico Dimarco and Bryan Cristante withdrew at the start of the international break and were replaced by Matteo Ruggeri and Samuele Ricci. Both could feature against France on Friday.
Possible Italy line-up
Reports from Italy suggest Mancini could select a 4-3-3 formation. Michael Kayode and Riccardo Calafiori are expected to operate as the full-backs, while Alessandro Bastoni is likely to start in central defence alongside either Giorgio Scalvini or Gianluca Mancini.
Three players are expected to be chosen from Sandro Tonali, Nicolo Barella, Davide Frattesi and Fagioli for the midfield. Fagioli’s allocation of the number 10 shirt following Raspadori’s departure could indicate that he is in line to start.
Pio Esposito and Sebastiano Esposito are both candidates to lead the attack. The latest reports in Italy suggest they could be joined by either Daniel Maldini or Antonio Vergara.
The confirmed squad numbers for Italy’s Nations League meeting with France are:
Fagioli – number 10, following Raspadori’s withdrawal.
Peter Young is a Senior Reporter with Football Italia.
