Italy probable lineup vs Bosnia: Only one Juventus man set to start | OneFootball

Italy are preparing to clash heads against their hosts, Bosnia, in the final of the World Cup playoffs on Tuesday evening.

The Azzurri are desperate to avoid a third straight calamitous failure to qualify for the most prestigious tournament in sports.

Gennaro Gattuso’s men began the playoffs on the right foot, beating Northern Ireland by two unanswered goals in Thursday’s semi-final, courtesy of Sandro Tonali and Moise Kean.

However, that win in Bergamo would be meaningless if the Italians don’t finish the job in Zenica on Tuesday.

How Italy will line up against Bosnia

According to the most reliable sources in the Italian press, including Gianluca Di Marzio, Gattuso will keep his starting lineup intact.

Italy captain Gianluigi Donnarumma will undoubtedly start between the sticks, with Gianluca Mancini, Alessandro Bastoni and Riccardo Calafiori completing the three-man backline.

Bastoni wasn’t fully fit against Northern Ireland, so Federico Gatti replaced him during the second half. Nevertheless, the Inter stalwart is expected to be confirmed, with the Juventus man starting on the bench once more

Matteo Politano and Federico Dimarco will occupy the wing-back slots again, but it remains to be seen if Andrea Cambiaso will at least be included in the matchday squad this time after being omitted in favour of Marco Palestra and Leonardo Spinazzola in the semi-finals.

Manuel Locatelli to represent Juventus in Italy starting lineup

With Gatti likely to start on the bench and Cambiaso risking a completed exclusion, Manuel Locatelli is the only Juventus player who’s expected to start in Italy’s most important fixtures over the past four years.

The Bianconeri skipper should operate as a deep-lying playmaker between box-to-box midfielders Tonali and Nicolo Barella.

Finally, Kean is almost assured of a starting berth after scoring on Thursday. Mateo Retegui remains the favourite to maintain his starting berth, even though Francesco Pio Esposito gained some ground thanks to an impressive cameo.

Italy Probable XI (3-5-2): Donnarumma; Mancini, Bastoni, Calafiori; Politano, Barella, Locatelli, Tonali, Dimarco; Kean, Retegui