FIFA WORLD CUP QUALIFICATIONS

ITALY VS SWEDEN

MATCH STATS AND PREVIEW

• Italy have played in every World Cup in the last 59 years, but they are in a risk of missing our on Russia 2018 after their abysmal display against Sweden in the first leg on the outskirts of Stockholm on Friday.
• Italy  have won five of their last six on Italian soil, only failing to beat Macedonia and winning all five of these games without conceding however they have only two wins from their last five games.
• Italy have never lost a World Cup qualifier on home soil, a run spanning 54 matches failing to win only eight of those matches.
• Italy have seen under 2.5 goals in their last 5 matches against Sweden in all competitions and also had under  2.5 goals scored in their last 4 FIFA world cup games.
• Italy have won 83% of their last six home games, keeping a clean sheet in 100% of these victories.

HEAD TO HEAD

• Italy have won four, drawn one, and lost two of their last seven meetings with Sweden and have been undefeated in their last 7 home matches against Sweden in all competitions.

TEAM NEWS

ITALY

• Marco Verratti will miss the second leg through suspension, while hoping Leonardo Bonucci is okay,and if so he may be forced to wear a  face mask after breaking his nose in the first leg.
• Simone Zaza and Leonardo Spinazzola remain doubts after missing the first leg through first injury.
• Giampiero Ventura’s gamble to revert back to a 3-5-2 formation and drop Lorenzo Insigne backfired massively in Sweden. Changes will be needed here.

SWEDEN

• Mikael Lustig missed the 1-0 win on Friday through suspension and should slot back in at right-back here.
• No other changes are expected from the away side as they look to protect their slender advantage.
• Andreas Granqvist will captain the visitors again here, with Victor Lindelof and Martin Olsson also providing defensive talent. Emil Forsberg and Marcus Berg are two other standout names.

PREDICTION

Italy to win at 1.56 sportpesa odds