Can Finland chase down Italy in Group J?
2213
It’s a top of the table clash in Group J as Finland host Italy in the UEFA European Qualifiers on Sunday.
Italy currently sit in first place with maximum points from their opening five matches while Finland are second on 12 points.
A win for Finland on Sunday would see them go level on points with Italy, while a win for the Azzuri would put the them in pole position to qualify for the tournament next summer.
Italy have scored 16 goals across their five qualifying matches so far and have conceded just twice. They are currently on an unbeaten run of 9 matches, with their last loss coming back in September 2018.
Finland are also on a good run of form having won their last four matches without conceding a goal.
However, when the two teams met in the opening round of qualifiers in March, it was Italy who were on the right end of a 2-0 victory.
Goals from Nicolo Barella and Moise Kean helped the Azurri to a comfortable win on that occasion and Italy boss Roberto Mancini will be hoping for more of the same on Sunday.
Kean has not made the squad this time around as punishment for reportedly arriving late for a team meeting.
The Everton youngster, along with Roma’s Nicolo Zaniolo, will play no part in this round of qualifying fixtures, and Mancini has been quoted as saying “professionals must always behave well”.
Italy also have a number of injury worries as Lorenzo Insigne, Giorgio Chiellini, Matta De Sciglio and Bryan Cristante have all pulled out of the squad.
Mancini has called up Vincenzo Grifo, Francesco Acerbi, Danilo D’Ambrosio and Sandro Tonali as replacements.
As for Finland, they have no fresh injury concerns and will be looking to in-form striker Teemu Pukki to continue his remarkable goal scoring run.
Following a fantastic start to the Premier League season with Norwich City, Pukki scored the only goal of the game as Finland beat Greece on Thursday.
Finland have not beaten Italy in 13 attempts, with Italy claiming 12 wins and just one previous match ending as a draw.
Another notable trend is that the Azurri have kept a clean sheet in their last six meetings with Finland, with five of those matches ending 2-0.
Italy are the favorites this time around, and look set to make it 6 straight wins in Group J.
Home team
Away team
Pred
Correct score
Avg. goals
Weather conditions
Coef.
Score
Live
coef.
EuQ
252254
2
0 - 2
2.25
15°
1.78
5.69
3.48
1.78
-1
-1
1
1 - 2(0 - 0)
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