Italy vs Bosnia & Herzegovina Preview: Where to Watch, Live Stream, Kick Off Time & Team News
Italy will take on Bosnia & Herzegovina on Tuesday at the Juventus Stadium in Group J of Euro 2020 qualification hoping to maintain their 100% record in the group, while Bosnia look to bounce back from a surprise loss to Finland on Saturday.
Coming off the back of a 3-0 win against Greece, things are looking rather rosy for Italy at the moment. Roberto Mancini's men have been playing some good football as they continue their rebuilding process, and the new look team has been producing strong results recently.
Italy have earned plaudits for blooding young players into their national team and for a more attacking style of football as they try to rebuild the way in which the set-up is run, much like Gareth Southgate and his team have been trying to do with England.
A win will keep Italy firmly at the top of the group, looking all the more likely to qualify, while a win for Bosnia would propel them into second or third place, keeping their hopes of qualification alive.
Check out 90min's preview of the game below.
Where to Watch
When Is Kick Off? | Tuesday 11 June |
What Time Is Kick Off? | 19:45 (BST) |
Where Is it Played? | Juventus Stadium |
TV Channel/Live Stream? | Sky Sports Football (UK) - fuboTV (US) |
Referee? | Xavier Estrada Fernandez |
Team News
Italy have a few minor injury concerns with Leonardo Spinazzola, Cristiano Biraghi and Matteo Politano all unlikely to feature after missing the match against Greece. The absences of Spinazzola and Biraghi mean Chelsea's Emerson is almost guaranteed to start at left back.
Bosnia will be without main man Miralem Pjanic through suspension, the Juventus midfielder completing his two-game ban, while Sead Kolasinac and Rade Krunic are also out through injury.
Tullio M. Puglia/GettyImages
The absence of Pjanic is an especially large blow for Bosnia, who particularly rely on the Juve man for creativity and the threat he offers from set pieces.
Predicted Lineups
Italy | Sirigu; Florenzi, Bonucci, Chiellini, Emerson; Barella, Jorginho, Verratti; Chiesa, Quagliarella, Insigne. |
Bosnia & Herzegovina | Sehic; Bicakcic, Sunjic, Sukanovic, Civic; Besic, Vrancic; Visca, Saric, Duljevic; Dzeko. |
Head to Head Record
Despite being based fairly close to each other geographically, Italy and Bosnia have only featured against each other once, back in 1996. In that match, Bosnia ran out 2-1 winners.
However, as Bosnia & Herzegovina only became an independent football nation in 1992, the opportunity to play each other has been limited to the last 27 years.
Recent Form
LOUISA GOULIAMAKI/GettyImages
Italy have been in good form since the summer. Since Roberto Mancini's appointment in May 2018, Italy have only lost two games: to Nations League winners Portugal, and to World Cup winners France, remaining unbeaten since September 2018.
Bosnia & Herzegovina have had respectable results as of late, yet their most recent loss to Finland came as a surprise to most.
Here's how each team has performed in their last five fixtures:
Italy | Bosnia & Herzegovina |
Greece 0-3 Italy (8/6) | Finland 2-0 Bosnia & Herzegovina (8/6) |
Italy 6-0 Liechtenstein (26/03/19) | Bosnia & Herzegovina 2-2 Greece (26/3) |
Italy 2-0 Finland (23/03/19) | Bosnia & Herzegovina 2-1 Armenia (23/3) |
Italy 1-0 USA (20/11/18) | Spain 1-0 Bosnia & Herzegovina (18/11) |
Italy 0-0 Portugal (17/11/18) | Austria 0-0 Bosnia & Herzegovina (15/11) |
Prediction
Italy are still going through a rebuilding stage but they've started to settle on a regular set of players and a system that will be used consistently.
The addition of young players is starting to be rewarded and their new attacking approach has paid dividends so far.
LOUISA GOULIAMAKI/GettyImages
Bosnia are without star man Miralem Pjanic and the loss of Kolasinac also takes away a strong Premier League player. Add the fact that this will be played in Turin, and Italy are strong favourites
