Italy vs. Malta, Euro 2016 Qualifier: Team News, Preview, Live Stream, TV Info

One of the most local of local derbies among this week’s Euro 2016 qualifiers takes place in Florence on Thursday, when Italy will expect to keep up their challenge to qualify from Group H by beating a winless Malta.

The Italians have picked up 12 points from their six matches so far, a stark contrast to Malta’s one from their six games, and in reality this should really be a case of how many goals Antonio Conte’s men can score.

Claudio Villa/Getty Images

That’s not to say that Malta will roll over for them.

Familiar opponents in the past few years, the Maltese “only” lost 2-0 at home and away to Italy in qualifying for the 2014 World Cup, while earlier in this campaign, only debutant Graziano Pelle's goal proved the difference, as the Italians prevailed 1-0 following a short hop along the Mediterranean Sea last October.

Three successive draws—two with Croatia and one with Bulgaria—mean that the Italians dare not fail to win this one, something the crowd at Fiorentina’s Artemio Franchi will fully expect.

Date: Thursday, 3 September, 2015

Time: 7:45 p.m. BST/2:45 p.m. EDT

Venue: Stadio Artemio Franchi, Florence

TV Info: Sky Sports Red Button

Live Stream: Sky Sports

Euro 2016 Qualifying Results

Italy

Claudio Villa/Getty Images

Won 2-0 vs. Norway (Away)

Won 2-1 vs. Azerbaijan (Home)

Won 1-0 vs. Malta (Away)

Drew 1-1 vs. Croatia (Home)

Drew 2-2 vs. Bulgaria (Away)

Drew 1-1 vs. Croatia (Away)

Malta

MATTHEW MIRABELLI/Getty Images

Lost 2-0 vs. Croatia (Away)

Lost 3-0 vs. Norway (Home)

Lost 1-0 vs. Italy (Home)

Drew 1-1 vs. Bulgaria (Away)

Lost 2-0 vs. Azerbaijan (Away)

Lost 1-0 vs. Bulgaria (Home)

Team News

Italy

Sebastian Giovinco’s fine form for Toronto in MLS led to a recall to the national squad, as Conte has shown more willingness to pick players playing their club football outside of Italy than some of his predecessors did.

However, an injury has seen the tiny attacker ruled out here, with new Monaco signing Stephan El Shaarawy, Southampton’s in-form Pelle and Juventus’ Simone Zaza tipped to lead the line.

Gianluigi Buffon, Andrea Pirlo and Daniele De Rossi—a trio who own 363 Italy caps between them—are all in the squad, with Manchester United’s Matteo Darmian expected to play at right-back.

Possible XI: Buffon, Darmian, Giorgio Fabricio Chiellini, Leonardo Bonucci, Manuel Pasqual, Daniele De Rossi, Marco Verratti, Pirlo, El Shaarawy, Pelle, Zaza

Malta

Seven members of the Malta squad come from the Birkirkara team which took West Ham United to penalties in the Europa League qualifiers this season, while manager Pietro Ghedin—an Italian who served on the national team’s coaching staff—has called up three uncapped players.

Maltese legend and skipper Michael Mifsud—formerly of Coventry City in England—remains their star player, scoring 39 international goals compared to the 12 managed by the rest of the squad combined, with defender Clayton Failla managing their only goal of qualifying so far—a penalty in the creditable 1-1 draw with Bulgaria in Sofia last November.

Possible XI: Justin Haber, Cini, Edmond Agius, Failla, Zach Muscat, Roderick Briffa, Andrew Cohen, Paul Fenech, Bjorn Kristensen, Mifsud, Andre Schembri

Key Players

Italy: Graziano Pelle

Claudio Villa/Getty Images

The Italian forward line has been a curious case for a while now, with Mario Balotelli fading from view and several others given a handful of caps only to quickly fall out of favour.

In Southampton’s Pelle, tough, the Italians have a forward who has impressed in a division where plenty of his compatriots have struggled in recent years—scoring his fourth goal of the season in all competitions in Sunday’s win over Norwich City.

The match-winner the last time Italy played Malta, he should be in line for his fifth cap here and perhaps his third goal.

Malta: Justin Haber

MATTHEW MIRABELLI/Getty Images

Having regained the Malta No. 1 shirt from English-born Andrew Hogg, Birkirkara stopper Justin Haber will need to use all of his experience on an evening when he is almost certain to be busy.

The 34-year-old former Sheffield United and Ferencvaros goalkeeper played a starring role in his side’s Europa League matches against West Ham earlier this summer, only conceding once to the Premier League side over 180 minutes before a penalty shootout defeat.

He’ll need to be just as inspirational here.

Odds (via Odds Shark)

Italy: 1-50

Malta: 80-1

Draw: 25-1