Italy vs Macedonia – FIFA World Cup Qualifier – Preview

Posted on October 6, 2017 by Sreya

Italy vs Macedonia – Italy hosts Macedonia at Olimpico di Torino, Turin on 6th October, Friday in their penultimate Group G fixture of the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers for the UEFA nations.

Italy are placed second in Group G with nineteen points, trailing the leaders Spain by three points, and although the battle for direct qualification isn’t over yet, Italy’s realistic chances are to qualify for the play-offs.

While Italy have easy fixtures against Macedonia and Albania, Spain are unlikely to drop points as well, especially with their home game against Albania and their last group match away at Israel.

Macedonia, already eliminated, have seven points, with their only win coming against Liechtenstein, but they put up a valiant performance in their 2-3 defeat to Italy in the reverse fixture.

Team News

Italy Possible Starting Lineup: Gianluigi Buffon, Andrea Barzagli, Giorgio Chiellini, Andrea Conti, Matteo Darmian, Antonio Candreva, Daniele De Rossi, Lorenzo Insigne, Marco Verratti, Andrea Belotti, Ciro Immobile.

Macedonia Possible Starting Lineup: Stole Dimitrievski, Darko Velkoski, Kire Ristevski, Stefan Ristovski, Visar Musliu, Boban Nikolov, Enis Bardhi, Ezgjan Alioski, Goran Pandev, Stefan Spirovski, Ilija Nestorovski.

“It’ll be a challenging game, Macedonia have a lot of quality going forward so it won’t be easy. We have to stay focused throughout the game. We’ll face the playoffs with great confidence and respect for our opponents. Certain voices mustn’t affect us. Criticism? We lost to Spain, one of the best teams in modern football.”

– Giorgio Chiellini, Italy.

Contributor’s Pick

According to Italy vs Macedonia H2H Stats, Italy won the only previous competitive fixture between these two nations. While Macedonia might prove to be a tricky side to beat, the onus is on Giampiero Ventura’s side to make their mark and secure a play-off position by winning tonight.

Should they fail to win tonight, questions are bound to be raised, especially after their 3-0 defeat to Spain in the previous international break. A 2-0 win for Italy is the most probable outcome.