Italy manager Luciano Spalletti and the Azzurri faithful have been rocked by a gambling scandal heading into Tuesday's Euro 2024 qualifier versus England in Group C.
Prior to Saturday's straightforward 4-0 crushing of Malta, Newcastle United's Sandro Tonali and Aston Villa's Nicolo Zaniolo were both alleged to have taken part in illegal betting and subsequently left the camp.
Spalletti's selection woes worsened when Juventus winger Federico Chiesa withdrew due to a muscular complaint, as the Azzurri boss was already unable to call upon Ciro Immobile or Mattia Zaccagni, who pulled out of the squad before the weekend's victory.
However, Domenico Berardi proved a more than capable deputy for Chiesa and will continue on the right thanks to his maiden international brace in Bari, most likely with Giacomo Raspadori and Moise Kean joining him in an untouched attack, as Gianluca Scamacca warms the bench again.
With Tonali dropping out in unforeseen circumstances, Manuel Locatelli should be deployed at the base of the engine room, while Nicolo Barella's spot in the XI is not up for debate.
Veteran lynchpin Giacomo Bonaventura became the oldest-ever player to score their first Italy goal at 34 years and 53 days when he curled home a sumptuous opener against Malta, but he may lose out to the fresh legs of Davide Frattesi here.
The same can be said for Matteo Darmian at right-back as Giovanni Di Lorenzo comes back in, but Gianluca Mancini, Alessandro Bastoni and Federico Dimarco - despite competition from recent debutant Destiny Udogie - should all retain their places in front of Gianluigi Donnarumma.
Italy possible starting lineup: Donnarumma; Di Lorenzo, Mancini, Bastoni, Dimarco; Frattesi, Locatelli, Barella; Berardi, Raspadori, Kean
> Click here to see how England could line up for Tuesday's game body check tags ::
