Estonia vs Italy Prediction: Collapse from the first half
The World Cup qualifying match between Estonia and Italy will take place at 1:45 AM on October 12th. Nghe An newspapers, radio, and television will analyze the teams' form, provide football commentary, and predict the score.
Latest information on the Estonia vs Italy team lineups.
Although coach Gennaro Gattuso has mentioned the possibility of switching to a three-centre-back formation, it is more likely that Italy will field a four-man defense against their weaker opponent.
Striker duo Mateo Retegui and Moise Kean played exceptionally well in the first leg, scoring three goals between them, and are likely to be trusted to start again.
However, the two wingers in that victory — Matteo Politano (Napoli) and Mattia Zaccagni (Lazio) — both withdrew due to injury. To replace them, Gattuso called up Leonardo Spinazzola and Roberto Piccoli, while Giacomo Raspadori (Atletico Madrid) and two Bologna players, Riccardo Orsolini and Nicolo Cambiaghi, competed for the attacking wing positions.
Italy's midfield is strengthened with the return of Bryan Cristante, who is in good form and had previously been left out of the squad. Additionally, Hans Nicolussi Caviglia (Fiorentina) could be given his national team debut.
Estonia has a much more limited squad, with 26 players who are mostly familiar faces. Striker Karel Mustmaa (PAOK) receives his first call-up, while captain Karol Mets returns from injury, bringing his total number of appearances for the national team to over 100.
However, veteran striker Henri Anier — the team's top scorer — is suspended, so Rauno Sappinen will lead the attack.
Goalkeeper Karl Hein (on Arsenal's books, currently on loan at Werder Bremen) is likely to start, behind a defense manned by former Tottenham player Maksim Paskotsi.
Latest predicted lineups for Estonia vs Italy
Estonia:
Hein; Schjonning-Larsen, Kuusk, Paskotsi, Saliste; Shein, Palumets; Yakovlev, Kait, Sinyavskiy; Sappinen
Italy:
Donnarumma; Di Lorenzo, Mancini, Bastoni, Dimarco; Orsolini, Barella, Locatelli, Tonali; Kean, Retegui
Latest football match prediction: Estonia vs Italy
After failing to qualify for two consecutive World Cups, the Italian national team began their quest for glory with a shock — a 0-3 defeat against Norway, a result that led to coach Luciano Spalletti losing his job and Rino Gattuso being appointed as his replacement.
The 2006 world champion takes over a team trailing Norway in Group I, but Gattuso is determined not to let the Azzurri miss out on the World Cup for the third consecutive time.
With a nine-point gap and two games in hand, Italy entered the September international break chasing the game, starting with a convincing 5-0 victory over Estonia in Bergamo. After a nearly hour-long stalemate, Gattuso's men exploded, scoring five goals to secure all three points before traveling to Hungary three days later.
Here, Italy faced their direct rivals for second place and a play-off spot – Israel. In a chaotic match, Italy twice fell behind but managed to take a 4-2 lead, only to concede two goals at the end of the game. When everything seemed to be falling apart, Sandro Tonali shone in injury time, giving the Azzurri a dramatic 5-4 victory.
The match ended with tense moments between coach Gattuso and captain Gianluigi Donnarumma, but before facing Israel again in Udine next week, Italy needs to focus on completing a "double" victory against Estonia.
Meanwhile, Estonia still has a slim chance of competing for a World Cup spot, trailing Norway by six points but with a game in hand. However, they have only managed to secure three points after five matches.
Ranked 129th in the FIFA rankings — 119 places behind Italy — Estonia needs to win all three remaining matches to have any hope, although realistically they will have to compete with Moldova to avoid finishing last.
Coach Jurgen Henn's team suffered defeats against Israel, Norway, and Italy (0-5), while their only victory was a 3-2 win against Moldova in Chisinau. Most recently, they drew 0-0 with Andorra in a friendly match, extending their goalless streak to over 300 minutes.
After hosting Italy at home, Estonia will face Moldova in Tallinn — a match seen as their biggest chance to earn more points.
Latest Estonia vs Italy score prediction
Based on the above football analysis, we and leading football websites worldwide have provided our predictions for the match.Estonia vs Italyas follows:
- Sportsmole:Estonia 1-4 Italy
- WhoScore:Estonia 0-3 Italy
- We predict:Estonia 0-3 Italy
When and where can I watch Estonia vs Italy live?
To watch the Estonia vs Italy match live in the World Cup qualifiers at 1:45 AM on October 12th, viewers can tune in to the following channels:K+ Sport,K+PMor online sports channels. We hope you enjoy watching football.
