Italy host Switzerland as they attempt to take a step towards World Cup qualification

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Switzerland will attempt to cause a shock in the World Cup Qualifiers as they prepare to face Italy on Friday.

Both sides are currently on 18 points in Group C but Gli Azzurri are ahead on goal difference going into the game in Rome.

Switzerland and Italy face Bulgaria and Northern Ireland respectively in their final group games meaning there is a good chance that this game could decide who tops the group.

Team News

Italy were hit with a blow to their squad when Marco Verratti picked up an injury against Marseille at the end of October. Both Nicolo Barella and Giorgio Chiellini have not trained with the team either as they recover from injuries sustained with their respective clubs.

Ciro Immobile was named in the squad by Roberto Mancini but has now left the squad due to a muscle problem and has been replaced by Sassuolo’s Gianluca Scamacca. Immobile has scored 10 goals in 11 league games and will no doubt be a miss for Italy.

22-year-old Tommaso Pobega earned his first call-up to the Italy senior team. The midfielder is currently on loan at Torino from AC Milan and has scored twice in nine appearances.

The main omission from the Swiss national team is captain Granit Xhaka, who will be out until the new year. Switzerland manager Murat Yakin will also be missing Breel Embolo and Haris Seferovic.

Murat Yakin gave his thoughts on Embolo’s injury ahead of an important encounter in Rome.

“I couldn’t believe it. I told myself it couldn’t be true, not before such an important match. His injury was the result of his application on the pitch. He is often played out of position but he adapts and always gives his all.”

21-year-old Noah Okafor gets his first senior call-up in two years after making one appearance for his country in the UEFA Nations League. Yakin has a lot of firepower still available to him in the form of Xherdan Shaqiri, Stefan Zuber and Manuel Akanji.

Form

The European champions secured a third-place finish in last month’s UEFA Nation League finals with a 2-1 win over Belgium after losing to Spain in the semi-finals. Their last qualifying game was a convincing victory over Lithuania but they dropped points in their previous two games, drawing to both Bulgaria and Switzerland.

Since the Euros, the Italians have played five games, winning twice, scoring nine times, conceding four goals and keeping clean sheets on two occasions.

Italy manager Roberto Mancini gave his thoughts ahead of a very ‘important match’ for his side.

“It’s an important match, very important in fact. And it’s true that if we win it will open the door to the World Cup, but it’s just a game of football.”

Switzerland have been unbeaten since their defeat to Spain at the Euros earlier in the year. They won their last two games against Northern Ireland and Lithuania but Embolo was key in both of the fixtures.

Yann Sommer has kept a clean sheet in each of his last four games and saved a penalty against Jorginho the last time the sides met back in September.

Since 2006, these two nations have met five times with four games ending in a draw. The only fixture which had a winner was at the Euros when the Italians breezed past the Swiss to win the game 3-0 in the group stages.

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