Comments and predictions for Estonia vs Italy: Disrupted from the first half
The match between Estonia and Italy in the World Cup qualifiers takes place at 1:45 a.m. on October 12. Nghe An Newspaper, Radio and Television analyzes performance, makes football comments and predicts the score.
Latest Estonia vs Italy team information
Coach Gennaro Gattuso has mentioned the possibility of switching to a three-man defense, but Italy will likely field a four-man defense against a weaker opponent.
Strike pair Mateo Retegui and Moise Kean were superb in the first leg, scoring three goals between them, and will likely continue to be relied upon to start.
However, the two wingers in that win — Napoli's Matteo Politano and Lazio's Mattia Zaccagni — both withdrew due to injury. In their place, Gattuso called on Leonardo Spinazzola and Roberto Piccoli, while Atletico Madrid's Giacomo Raspadori and Bologna's Riccardo Orsolini and Nicolo Cambiaghi competed for the wide attacking position.
Italy's midfield has been bolstered by the return of in-form Bryan Cristante, who was left out of the squad earlier in the season. In addition, Hans Nicolussi Caviglia (Fiorentina) could be given a chance to make his senior debut.
Estonia have a much smaller squad, with 26 players, most of whom are familiar faces. PAOK striker Karel Mustmaa is called up for the first time, while captain Karol Mets returns from injury, taking his total to over 100 caps.
However, veteran striker Henri Anier — the team's top scorer — is suspended, so Rauno Sappinen will lead the attack.
Goalkeeper Karl Hein (Arsenal's player, currently on loan at Werder Bremen) is likely to start, behind a defense with former Tottenham player Maksim Paskotsi.
Latest expected lineup 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 commentary on Estonia vs Italy
After two consecutive World Cup failures, the Italian team started their journey to regain glory with a shock — a 0-3 defeat to Norway, a result that cost coach Luciano Spalletti his job and saw Rino Gattuso appointed as his replacement.
The 2006 world champion takes over a side trailing Norway in Group I, but Gattuso is determined not to let the Azzurri miss out on a third successive World Cup.
With a nine-point lead and two games in hand, Italy went into the September break chasing, and they started with a convincing 5-0 win over Estonia in Bergamo. After a stalemate for nearly an hour, Gattuso's men exploded, scoring five goals to take all three points, before travelling to Hungary three days later.
Here, Italy faced their direct rivals for second place and a playoff spot — Israel. In a chaotic match, Italy twice trailed but still managed to lead 4-2, then conceded two late goals. Just when everything seemed to be falling apart, Sandro Tonali shined in injury time to give the Azzurri a thrilling 5-4 win.
The match ended with tense moments between coach Gattuso and captain goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, but before the rematch with Israel in Udine next week, Italy need to focus on completing the "double" victory over Estonia.
Meanwhile, Estonia still have a slim chance of competing for a World Cup spot, as they are six points behind Norway but have played one game less. However, in reality, they have only won three points after five rounds.
Ranked 129th in the FIFA rankings — 119 places below Italy — Estonia need to win all three remaining games to have any hope, although the realistic possibility is they will have to race against Moldova to avoid bottom spot.
Jurgen Henn's side have suffered defeats against Israel, Norway and Italy (0-5), while their only win was a 3-2 win over Moldova in Chisinau. Most recently, they drew 0-0 with Andorra in a friendly, extending a run of more than 300 minutes without scoring.
After hosting Italy at home, Estonia will face Moldova in Tallinn — a match seen as their best chance to pick up more points.
Latest Estonia vs Italy score prediction
Based on the above football comments, we and the world's leading football sites have given the results of 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 to watch Estonia vs Italy live?
To watch the live match between Estonia and Italy in the World Cup qualifiers taking place at 1:45 a.m. on October 12, viewers can watch onK+ Sport,K+PMor online sports channels. Wish you have fun watching football.
