Malta vs Italy Prediction & Betting Tips (26 March)

Second day for qualifying for the next European Championships and on Sunday 26 March at 20.45 Italy faces Malta away. The Azzurri were forced to win after the opening defeat against England which probably condemned Mancini's team to fight for second place in the group, the last place which automatically qualifies for the competition.

Competitors are Ukraine and North Macedonia with the former making their debut against England and the latter beating Malta 2-1 on Thursday evening.

Almost all of this Maltese selection is totally unknown to the general public. The only figure familiar to the general public is the Franco-Maltese Teddy Teuma who plays for Union Saint-Gilloise with whom he will play in the quarter-finals of the Europa League in the coming weeks. This is also one of the most decisive players of this selection with 3 goals scored in 27 selections. Otherwise, the rest of this Maltese team is totally unknown to the followers, most of the players present indeed evolving in the very weak domestic championship. Italy is far from being complete for this gathering. If the executive defender Chiellini (Los Angeles FC, 117 caps) has retired from international football, the excellent scorer Immobile (Lazio, 55 caps, 15 goals) and the Neapolitan Raspadori (17 caps, 5 goals) are injured and have not therefore did not receive an invitation. Called in the first instance, the excellent Dimarco (left piston, Inter) and Chiesa (Juventus, 40 caps, 4 goals) were also victims of physical glitches and they will also be absent to play this meeting.

Finally, forwards Insigne (54 caps, 10 goals) and Bernardeschi (39 caps, 6 goals), striker Belotti (AS Roma) and Zaniolo (Galatasaray, 11 caps, 2 goals) did not have the confidence of Roberto Mancini for this gathering. Otherwise, Parisians Donnaruma (51 caps) and Verratti (52 caps), captain Bonucci (Juventus, 120 caps), executive defenders Acerbi (Inter, 29 caps), Di Lorenzo (Naples, 26 caps) and Spinazzola (Roma, 22 caps) and the centerpieces of midfield Jorginho (Arsenal, 47 caps, 5 goals) and Barella (Inter, 43 caps, 8 goals) are available. Up front, Berardi (Sassuolo, 25 caps, 6 goals), Scamacca (West Ham, 10 caps), and Grifo (8 caps, 4 goals) could form the transalpine attack line. Against the English, it was the Italo-Argentinian Retegui (Tiger) who made an impression by reducing the score in the second half for his first selection. Note that he has always lived in Argentina, does not even speak Italian and only has an Italian passport thanks to his grandfather.