Italy v Belgium predictions: Azzurri to salvage some pride

Free football tips, best bets and analysis for Italy v Belgium in the third place playoff at the Nations League on Sunday.

Where to watch

Sky Sports Football, 2pm Sunday

Best bet

Italy
1pt 6-5 Betfred,Hills

Team news

Italy

Roberto Mancini is expected to make some changes with Giacomo Raspadori in line to start up front. Francesco Acerbi could replace the suspended Leonardo Bonucci.

Belgium

Kevin De Bruyne and Eden Hazard could drop to the bench with Leandro Trossard and Dodi Lukebakio set to replace them.

Preview

No team wants to be involved in a third-place playoff but Belgium will be less keen than most after their golden generation threw away another opportunity to win silverware.

Goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois has described Sunday’s meeting with European champions Italy as “pointless”, while head coach Roberto Martinez says his team have hit a “mental wall” following Thursday’s dramatic loss to France.

The Red Devils snatched defeat from the jaws of victory in their semi-final encounter with Les Bleus, throwing away a 2-0 lead in the final half an hour as Theo Hernandez's dramatic 90th-minute winner sent the world champions into the final.

Such a loss would be hard for most teams to take but for Belgium's crop of stars it was the latest in a catalogue of near misses. Belgium contested the bronze-medal match at the 2018 World Cup after another narrow semi-final defeat to France and they were ousted in the last eight of Euro 2020 by Sunday's opponents Italy.

Red Devils boss Martinez opted to field a strong team for the 2018 World Cup third-place decider with England and he was rewarded with a 2-0 win over the Three Lions.

This time around, stars Eden Hazard, Kevin De Bruyne and Youri Tielemans are expected to be among the big names rested by Martinez.

The Red Devils possess a fine collection of world-class individuals but beyond their first-choice 11 they arguably lack strength in depth and the absence of those stars could be keenly felt against Italy.

Azzurri boss Roberto Mancini is also likely to make changes, albeit he could keep alterations to a minimum in an effort to give the home faithful in Turin something to cheer.

Lorenzo Insigne, Federico Chiesa and Jorginho are expected to retain their places from the semi-final loss to Spain, a result which brought an end to Italy’s 37-game unbeaten run.

Despite being a man down for over 45 minutes after Leonardo Bonucci's dismissal, the European champions still registered more efforts on target than La Roja as Lorenzo Pellegrini grabbed a late consolation to cap a spirited effort.

There appear to be more positive noises coming out of the Azzurri camp than that of the downbeat Belgians and the hosts look a fair price to register a fifth win in the last six meetings between the nations.

Key stat

Italy have won seven of their 12 previous home meetings with Belgium.

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