Italy – Malta

The Italian team will delight fans with plenty of goals

The opponents for the match in Bari are probably in the most interesting group of the continental selection. Another thing is that the Italians play one of the most active roles in the local company, while the island team is in the status of "student-teacher" or "tourist". Before the next round of fixtures, Italy are level on points with Ukraine and North Macedonia with one match to spare, six points behind England. Malta have lost five out of five matches and with a goal difference of 1:11 have no practical chance of getting above the last position. A face-to-face meeting between the upcoming rivals in the first round took place in Ta-Kali at the end of March this year. Then the favourite with two assists Tonali scored two goals in the first half and calmly brought the meeting to victory in the second half - 2:0. Bookmakers expectedly identified the home team as the favorites for the upcoming meeting, offering a paltry odds of 1.03 on their victory. The Italian national team missed the World Cup in Qatar, losing in the play-off qualification to Northern Macedonia. After that, the four-time world champion could rehabilitate this summer in the final part of the Nations League. However, already in the semi-finals, the Italians' path was blocked by the Spanish national team. And in the current qualification Italy started with a defeat. The team hosted the England national team in Naples and lost with a score of 1:2. Then followed a pragmatic victory over Malta and an unsuccessful trip to Skopje to North Macedonia - 1:1. Italy picked up a crucial win over Ukraine in the last round which lifted their chances of second place above those of their rivals. Ranked 171st in the FIFA rankings, Malta are among the weakest teams in Europe, as demonstrated in 2022 Nations League matches. While even weaker San Marino managed to beat them twice in the D-League, the islanders suffered two defeats against Estonia, leaving them in the continent's weakest division for another season. In qualifying for the World Cup in 2021, Malta picked up five points in ten matches, becoming the worst team in Group H. In the current qualification Malta do not look competitive. It's been a long time since the Italians have pleased their fans with a productive home game. The upcoming match is a good opportunity.