Italy will continue their preparation for the defence of their European Championship title on Sunday, 24 March when they take on Ecuador at the Red Bull Arena in New Jersey. Manager, Luciano Spalletti, has named a 28-man squad for the match against the South American outfit with seven recognised forwards selected.
All seven men will be hoping to play a part in the match with the ex-Napoli boss still undecided on his best eleven with just three months to go until Euro 2024 begins in Germany. Mateo Retegui will be looking to continue his fast start to international football (four goals in five caps) while Lorenzo Lucca will be hoping to earn his first Italian cap after being called up to the squad.
Italy first goalscorer odds – Our picks
Mateo Retegui – (11/2)
Mateo Retegui is doing all he can to make himself Luciano Spalletti's first choice striker ahead of Euro 2024. The Genoa striker has only played five times for his country but has managed to score four goals, including two in Italy's 2-1 win over Venezuela on Friday night.
Although Spalletti is likely to ring the changes for the match against Colombia, he would be foolish to sit an in-form striker on the bench particularly as Italy have struggled for an out-and-out goalscorer for a number of years. Half of his goals for Italy have been the first goal of the game and he is the favourite to break the deadlock on Friday night.
Lorenzo Lucca – (13/2)
Lorenzo Lucca is in the Italy squad for the first time in his career and after missing out on his first cap against Venezuela, he is expected to play against Colombia. Lucca has had a decent campaign for Udinese, where he is spending a season on loan from Pisa, netting seven Serie A goals for the struggling outfit.
Lucca is something of a late bloomer and at the age of 23, he has only ever played international football before at under-21 level. At that level, he scored two goals in six appearances for Italy u21s so doesn't have a huge pedigree but he does have a habit of scoring on debut. He netted on his first appearances for both Udinese and Jong Ajax, his last two clubs.
Federico Chiesa – (7/1)
Federico Chiesa is one of the brightest talents in the Italy squad but he appears to have some convincing to do when it comes to Spalletti. The Juventus winger has only started three of Spalletti's seven matches in charge of the national team and only two of his absences can be explained by injury.
When Chiesa has started under Spalletti, he has been substituted 100% of the time so there is clearly work to be done on the winger's behalf. Besides all that, Chiesa has netted twice in his last three appearances for his country and has the ‘X factor' and level of unpredictability that makes them a dangerous side.
Davide Frattesi – (15/2)
Davide Frattesi is the final Italian player worth considering when it comes to the first goalscorer market. Frattesi has proven to be one of Spalletti's favourites despite only being a squad player at Inter Milan, where he is spending the season on loan.
The 24-year-old has frequently been deployed as one of the two attacking players behind a central striker during Spalletti's tenure and is expected to start again on Sunday night. Frattesi has scored three goals since Spalletti took charge and he is well-priced at 15/2 to get the first goal against Colombia.
For more tips relating to the match, check out our Colombia vs Italy prediction.
