Italy vs. Scotland: Date, Time, TV Schedule and Live Stream for 2016 Friendly

An injury-ravaged Italy team will continue their preparations for the UEFA European Championships this summer on Sunday, as they meet Scotland in Malta for a friendly contest.

Manager Antonio Conte has had a host of fitness concerns to deal with in the build-up to the big kick-off and will have to make some decisions when it comes to personnel he selects for this clash. Scotland have not qualified for the major tournament in France, although manager Gordon Strachan will be keen to see some youngsters take their chance in this one.

The Azzurri will always be a contender when it comes to a major tournament, so you can bet there’ll be plenty across the continent keeping an eye on how they fare here. Here are the vital viewing details for this one and a closer look at what to expect from these two sides.

Date: Sunday, May 29

Time: 7:45 p.m. (BST), 2:45 p.m. (ET)

TV: Premier Sports (UK), ESPN 3 (US)

Live Stream: Premier Player (UK), ESPN Player (US)

Conte Hoping to Cope with Injury Issues

After picking a 30-strong squad, Conte will have to slim down his group to 23 before the tournament begins. It’s a tough enough task as it is, although even at this late stage the Azzurri boss has question marks hanging over some key men.

Already without the midfield axis of Claudio Marchisio and Marco Verratti, there are now worries over whether or not experienced man Daniele de Rossi will be fit enough to feature, with Conte admitting he is “worried” about the condition of the Roma man, per Football Italia. Riccardo Montolivo and Thiago Motta are also doubts.

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As we can see here courtesy of the national team’s official Twitter feed, the problems haven’t prevented the players from holding back in training:

There could be a chance for some new faces to step in and fill gaps given the aforementioned doubts. Stefano Sturaro, for example, is a burgeoning midfielder many are very excited about at Juventus, while the versatility of a figure like Alessandro Florenzi could also prove to be very useful.

The Azzurri always look for a man, in the mould of Andrea Pirlo or Verratti, to dictate the tempo of matches from a deeper position. Napoli star Jorginho has shown he’s capable of doing so with some fine performances this term; these numbers from WhoScored.com show he can have a profound influence on matches:

For Scotland there’s little to lose and therefore it’s no surprise Strachan will look to pit some fresh faces against the illustrious Italians. Per BBC Sport, defenders Stephen Kingsley and Callum Paterson are in line to make their maiden international bows, as is winger winger Barrie McKay.

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It’s certainly a squad with the future in mind for the Scots, with a host of longstanding figures either rested or unavailable due to other commitments. The Tartan Army suffered the disappointment of being the only Home Nations side not to qualify for the Euros, although Strachan, as we can see, is looking forward:

Even though Italy have a lot of men absent and are likely to experiment in this contest, they’ll have too much quality for a Scotland team that will be equally unfamiliar to each other. Conte will want to see some emerging players give him a tough decision when it comes to trimming his squad and pose a potential antidote to the team’s midfield issues.

Italy will have enough to win by a comfortable margin at the Ta'Qali National Stadium, although it’ll be the manner and style in which they perform that’ll tell us a lot about whether they’re prepared for their tournament opener against Belgium on June 13.