Italy have made eight changes for their Nations League match against Turkiye, with Matteo Ruggeri and Michael Kayode set to make their senior debuts and Sebastiano Esposito starting alongside his younger brother Francesco Pio.
The Group A meeting takes place at the Ataturk Spor Kompleski Matli Stadyumu in Bursa, with kick-off at 19:45 UK time (20:45 CEST).
Both sides lost at home in their opening match of the tournament. Italy were beaten 2-0 by Belgium, while Turkiye, managed by Vincenzo Montella, suffered a narrow 1-0 defeat by France.
Roberto Mancini has made significant changes to his Italy side, including the return of Alessandro Bastoni following suspension. Brentford full-back Kayode and Aston Villa defender Ruggeri are handed their first senior appearances, with Ruggeri only called up after Federico Dimarco withdrew because of injury.
Nicolo Zaniolo is unavailable with a muscular injury, while 10 other players did not travel to Turkiye because of fitness concerns. The absentees include Nicolo Barella, Gianluca Mancini and Diego Coppola, who all started against Belgium, as well as Honest Ahanor, Eddy Kouadio, Samuele Ricci, Samuele Inacio, Mohamed Ali Zoma and Daniel Maldini.
Giorgio Scalvini, Davide Frattesi, Nicolo Fagioli and Giacomo Raspadori come into the starting XI. Of the players who began last week’s game, only Francesco Pio Esposito, Sandro Tonali and goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma retain their places.
The Esposito brothers are the most notable feature of the team, with Sebastiano starting alongside Francesco Pio.
Turkiye are also dealing with a number of injury problems. Juventus forward Kenan Yildiz, Inter midfielder Hakan Calhanoglu and former Sassuolo defender Mert Muldur are among those missing.
Goalkeeper Ugurcan Cakir is suspended after being sent off against France, so Altay Bayindir replaces him. Orkun Kokcu had been a doubt after suffering trauma to his right toe but is named in the starting line-up.
Zeki Celik, who has played for both Roma and Juventus, starts for the hosts. With Yildiz unavailable, Real Madrid player Arda Guler is Turkiye’s main attacking threat.
Turkiye: Altay Bayindir; Celik, Demiral, Ozan Kabak; Oguz Aydin, Salih Ozcan, Orkun Kokcu, Eren Elmali; Arda Guler, Can Uzun; Baris Alper Yilmaz.
Turkiye bench: Muhammed Sengezer, Okan Kocuk, Samet Akaydin, Kerem Akturkoglu, Demir Ege Tiknaz, Deniz Gul, Abdulkerim Bardakci, Ismail Yuksek, Irfan Can Kahveci, Yunus Akgun, Ferdi Kadioglu, Mustafa Eskihellac.
Italy: Donnarumma; Kayode, Scalvini, Bastoni, Ruggeri; Frattesi, Tonali, Fagioli; Raspadori, P Esposito, S Esposito.
Italy bench: Carnesecchi, Vicario, Romano, Calafiori, Kean, Scamacca, Mandragora, Doumbia, Cambiaghi, Vergara, Ghilardi, Di Lorenzo.
Referee: Oliver (ENG).
