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Football Whispers' Predictions for Italy vs North Macedonia
Italy surprised many by failing to qualify for the World Cup in Qatar outright, now finding themselves a possible two more matches to win to ensure they don't miss out on this winter's big tournament. North Macedonia put in some decent displays at Euro 2020 making a lot of new fans in the process but can they upset the odds and beat Italy in their own backyard this Thursday?
Contents
Italy to Win-to-Nil
Italy have played North Macedonia twice before, picking up one win and one draw. We're backing the home side to secure safe passage into the Play-Off Finals but don't expect the game to be all that thrilling. Italy have a mean defence that has kept three clean sheets in its last six attempts and should stand firm against a North Macedonia attack that has failed to score in two of their last five outings.
Ciro Immobile to Score
Immobile is back in the squad and remains Italy's join-top scorer in the World Cup qualifiers with 2-goals alongside Di Lorenzo and Kean, both of whom are missing from the latest squad selection. The Lazio striker has been in fantastic form this season scoring 21 times in Serie A already, so you can see just why we're backing Immobile to add to his 15 international goals on Thursday night against North Macedonia.
Italy vs North Macedonia: Key Stats & Figures
North MacedoniaItaly vs North Macedonia | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| |||
24/03/22 E-WCQ | Italy  Italy | 0 - 1 |  North Macedonia North Macedonia |
06/10/17 E-WCQ | Italy Italy | 1 - 1 | North Macedonia North Macedonia |
09/10/16 E-WCQ | North Macedonia North Macedonia | 2 - 3 | Italy Italy |
Italy | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Last 5 | |||
29/03/22 IM | Turkey  Turkey | 2 - 3 | Italy Italy |
15/11/21 E-WCQ | Northern Ireland  Northern Ireland | 0 - 0 | Italy Italy |
12/11/21 E-WCQ | Italy Italy | 1 - 1 |  Switzerland Switzerland |
10/10/21 NAL | Italy Italy | 2 - 1 |  Belgium Belgium |
06/10/21 NAL | Italy Italy | 1 - 2 |  Spain Spain |
North Macedonia | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Last 5 | |||
29/03/22 E-WCQ |  Portugal Portugal | 2 - 0 | North Macedonia North Macedonia |
14/11/21 E-WCQ | North Macedonia North Macedonia | 3 - 1 |  Iceland Iceland |
11/11/21 E-WCQ |  Armenia Armenia | 0 - 5 | North Macedonia North Macedonia |
11/10/21 E-WCQ | North Macedonia North Macedonia | 0 - 4 |  Germany Germany |
08/10/21 E-WCQ |  Liechtenstein Liechtenstein | 0 - 4 | North Macedonia North Macedonia |
Italy are the overwhelming favourites to win
Italy were very disappointing in their last qualifying game away at Northern Ireland. The game itself ended goalless and was a huge result for the home side and a very disappointing all-round performance for the Italians who have only won one of their last four matches in all competitions. However, Italy still possess more than enough quality in their side despite all the attacking injuries and should do enough to beat North Macedonia one or two-nil.
Italy Predicted Lineup – Donnarumma, Bonucci, Chiellini, Palmieri, Florenzi, Jorginho, Barella, Tonali, Insigne, Berardi & Immobile
North Macedonia made light work of Iceland at the Toše Proeski Arena in Skopje last time out, running out 3-1 winners in the end. An early goal from Alioski set the home side on their way to victory, despite Iceland equalising early in the second half. Elmas fired in a brace to thrust North Macedonia 3-1 up and there was no way back for the Scandinavians.
North Macedonia Predicted Lineup – Dimitrievski, Ristovski, Musliu, Velkovski, Alioski, Kostadinov, Bardhi, Elmas, Churlinov, Trajkovski & Ristovski
Team News
Italy: Di Lorenzo, Spinazzola, Bernardeschi, Chiesa, Kean and El Shaarawy miss out for the hosts.
North Macedonia: Jahović, Radeski, Hasani, Bejtulai and Zajkov have not made the squad for the visitors.
FAQ: Italy vs North Macedonia
- Who are the favourites to win? – Italy are the clear favourites with all bookmakers.
- What was the score when these two teams last met? – Italy 1-1 North Macedonia, 06/10/17.
- What time is kick-off? – 19:45 GMT, 20:45 CET.
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