Italy vs Norway Prediction and Analysis: A Spectacular Attacking Match
The World Cup qualifying match between Italy and Norway will take place at 2:45 AM on November 17th. Nghe An newspapers, radio, and television will analyze the teams' form, provide football commentary, and predict the score.
Latest team news for Italy vs Norway
Focusing all efforts on ending Italy's "play-off curse," coach Gattuso admitted that avoiding yellow cards would affect his team selection for Sunday's match.
Therefore, key midfielder Sandro Tonali will almost certainly not play at San Siro – his former home stadium – to avoid risking a suspension in the play-off semi-final.
Italy also lost two strikers, Moise Kean and Niccolo Cambiaghi, to injury, but Nicolo Barella could return to replace Tonali after serving his suspension from the match against Moldova.
Gianluca Scamacca continued his sluggish form with a goalless run on Thursday night, so Mateo Retegui – who has five goals and four assists in Group I – could return to the starting lineup. First-choice goalkeeper and captain Gianluigi Donnarumma is also expected to make a return to the starting XI.
While Retegui has had a rather impressive record, Haaland only needs two more goals to equal Lewandowski's all-time record: 16 goals in a UEFA qualifying campaign.
The Man City star will continue to partner Sorloth in Norway's formidable attack, with support on the flanks from RB Leipzig teammates Oscar Bobb and Antonio Nusa.
The visiting team will be without Martin Odegaard – he's sidelined with a knee injury – however, the Norwegian captain will still be in the stands to cheer on his team.
In defense, Solbakken recalled Genoa's Leo Ostigard after he recovered from a rib injury, but Bologna's Torbjorn Heggem could be preferred to partner Kristoffer Ajer.
Latest predicted lineups for Italy vs Norway
Italy:
Donnarumma; Di Lorenzo, Mancini, Bastoni, Dimarco; Barella, Locatelli, Cristante; Politano, Retegui, Raspadori
Norway:
Nyland; Ryerson, Heggem, Ajer, Bjorkan; Bobb, Berg, Berge, Nusa; Sorloth, Haaland
Latest football match prediction: Italy vs Norway
Having secured a top 2 spot in Group I, Italy enters this month's final round of matches with virtually no pressure, as the group's standings were decided two rounds earlier.
After overcoming a brief chase from Israel, the Azzurri continued their recovery from a 0-3 defeat in Oslo in the opening match – a game that led to the departure of coach Luciano Spalletti.
Under new coach Gennaro Gattuso – a 2006 World Cup champion – Italy have been scoring well with six consecutive wins, although they only managed a late 2-0 victory over Moldova on Thursday night.
Gattuso's side created numerous chances at Chisinau but repeatedly missed them, before late headers from Gianluca Mancini and Francesco Pio Esposito rescued them from a disappointing draw.
Theoretically, that victory gives Italy hope of qualifying directly, but they will need a real "football miracle" to overcome Norway this weekend.
Italy are three points behind and Norway have a significant goal difference advantage, meaning they would have to win by a margin of nine goals to overturn the deficit.
More realistically, Italy's most important goal is to avenge their comprehensive defeat in the first leg, thereby improving their morale before the arduous journey in the play-off round.
While Italy has repeatedly missed out on the World Cup due to collapses in the play-off rounds, Norway has waited nearly three decades for a World Cup ticket.
That wait will almost certainly end this Sunday, when Norway – the highest-scoring team in the European qualifiers with 33 goals, including Haaland's 14 – are marching straight towards securing a place in the 2026 World Cup.
Unless a disaster happens in Milan, Norway will qualify for the World Cup for the first time since 1998, after they annihilated most of their Group I opponents.
Starting with a 3-0 thrashing of Italy in June, Norway now have a perfect 21 points and need just one more goal to set a record for the most goals scored in a UEFA qualifying campaign in the 21st century.
Their nine-match winning streak was only halted by a friendly draw with New Zealand last month, a run that also included an 11-1 victory over Moldova and a 5-0 win against Israel.
The latest victory came on Thursday evening, when Haaland and Alexander Sorloth both scored braces in the second half against Estonia, bringing Norway closer to qualification after almost a generation's wait.
Latest Italy vs Norway score prediction
Based on the above football analysis, we and leading football websites worldwide have provided our predictions for the match.Italy vs Norwayas follows:
- Sportsmole:Italy 2-1 Norway
- WhoScore:Italy 1-1 Norway
- We predict:Italy 2-2 Norway
When and where can I watch Italy vs Norway live?
To watch the Italy vs Norway match live in the World Cup qualifiers at 2:45 AM on November 17th, viewers can tune in to the following channels:K+ Sport,K+PMor online sports channels. We hope you enjoy watching football.
