Amends for a midweek heartbreak against Belgium are at the forefront of Luciano Spalletti’s mind as Italy take on Israel on Monday. Gli Azzurri bid to fortify their position at the top of their 2024/25 UEFA Nations League group against the section’s lowest-ranked nation at Udinese’s Bluenergy Stadium.
The stage seemed set for another morale-boosting win on Thursday when early goals from Andrea Cambiaso and Mateo Retegui propelled Italy to a 2-0 lead against Belgium. But despite building a comfortable-looking two-goal cushion inside 25 minutes, the four-time European champions had to settle for a point.
Lorenzo Pellegrini’s expulsion toward the end of the first half left Italy with a mountain to climb. Unfortunately for Spalletti, his charges conceded twice from set-piece situations as Maxim De Cuyper and Leandro Trossard found the net to impede the Italians’ momentum following an ill-fated EURO 2024 campaign.
Indeed, Italy won back-to-back matches at the beginning of their Group A2 journey in September to leave the likes of France and Belgium in the dust. However, they must pick up the slack after a gut-wrenching result a few days ago, with out-of-sorts Israel rolling into Udine.
Life in League A was never supposed to be easy for Israel. In all fairness, they couldn’t have been drawn in a more challenging group in their maiden top-tier campaign, hence a three-game losing streak. After two straight losses in September, they suffered their heaviest defeat yet in the current cycle on Thursday as France humbled them 4-1 in Budapest.
Match Preview
Italy
Despite Thursday’s setback, Italy head into proceedings as odds-on favorites to consolidate their place at the table’s summit following a 2-1 win in September’s reverse fixture. That triumph made it six meetings against the Israelis without losing (W5, D1), highlighting Gli Azzurri’s favorite tag in this contest.
Adding to Spalletti’s confidence, Italy’s two home victories during that sequence yielded an aggregate scoreline of 7-0, underscoring the potential for an emphatic success. Chances are Italy will live up to expectations on Monday, buoyed by their scintillating eight-match unbeaten streak on home soil (W6, D2).
Topically, they have bagged at least two goals across their last four competitive home outings (W3, D1), averaging 3.25 goals per match. Therefore, not even the bravest Israeli fans would dare to dream big ahead of this road trip.
Israel
An instant return to League B looms over Israel’s heads amid a rotten spell of form in the highest tier. Ran Ben Shimon’s men could seek excuses in the raging conflict back home, with off-field turmoil concerning their country undoubtedly affecting the team’s mentality in these times of uncertainty.
Hopes of getting back on track are slim after Israel lost five of their last six internationals (W1). Disappointing results aside, they’ve been fun to watch, with each of those six matches featuring over 2.5 goals and four witnessing both teams on the scoresheet, suggesting a high-scoring encounter could be on the cards.
But Israel will unlikely come out on top, considering the last time they got the better of a nation currently ranked in FIFA’s top ten was back in 1998 when they squeaked past Argentina 2-1 in a friendly. All such fixtures afterward have spelled disaster for the Chosen Team (D4, L15).
Team News
After losing Pellegrini to suspension, Spalletti has called upon Atalanta’s Nicolo Zaniolo as cover. However, Italy must make do without talismanic midfielder Nicolo Barella and quicksilver forward Federico Chiesa. Both players have yet to return to full fitness after picking up injuries during club season.
On the other hand, Israel will take this daunting trip without Leeds United winger Manor Solomon and captain Eli Dasa. The visitors will likely rely on Philadelphia Union star Tai Baribo to lead the line and RB Salzburg ace Oscar Gloukh to make up for the high-profile absences.
Italy vs Israel Potential Line-ups
Italy (3-5-2): Gianluigi Donnarumma; Giovanni Di Lorenzo, Alessandro Bastoni, Riccardo Calafiori; Andrea Cambiaso, Nicolo Fagioli, Samuele Ricci, Sandro Tonali, Federico Dimarco; Giacomo Raspadori, Mateo Retegui.
Isreal (3-4-2-1): Omri Glazer; Ilay Feingold, Idan Nachimas, Raz Shlomo; Liel Abada, Mohammad Abu Fani, Gabi Kanichowsky, Doron Leidner; Oscar Gloukh, Omri Gandelman; Tai Baribo.
Italy vs Israel Prediction
Italy would be naive to underestimate Israel’s scoring potential, but they should still outscore their visitors and maintain their resurgence after the Euros. We expect Israel to find the net but still go down by a multiple-goal margin.
Prediction: Italy to Win
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