Antonio Conte will set his Italy side up in a 4-3-3 formation for Friday night’s Euro 2016 qualifier with Croatia.
Croatia lead Group H by two points after the two favourites for qualification played out a 1-1 draw in Milan last November, and after playing a 3-5-2 in recent successive draws the Azzurri coach will change tact for the crunch match in Split.
CalcioNews24 report that Stephan El Shaarawy, Antonio Candreva, and Graziano Pelle will lead the line in a tripartite attack that may be without Sassuolo forward Simone Zaza, who faces a late fitness test.
That means no start for Nicola Sansone on his first Azzurri call-up, with a three-man midfield expected to be made up of Marco Verratti and Andrea Bertolacci, backed up by the experienced Daniele De Rossi.
Andrea Ranocchia and Davide Astori will compete with Juventus’ Leonardo Bonucci as the Bianconeri centre-half returns from the Champions League final. Finally, Sampdoria’s Lorenzo De Silvestri is tipped for a full-back berth along with regular Matteo Darmian.
