Friday, June 3, 2011

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03.06. (Fri) 20:45 Italy - Estonia

DID YOU KNOW?

Italy have won their last five matches against Estonia.

The Azzurri have scored 15 goals in their last five encounters versus Estonia.

Cesare Prandelli's men have conceded only one goal in the current qualifying campaign.

Italy have outscored their Group C opponents 11-1 after five games.

Antonio Cassano leads the team in scoring with two goals.

Estonia beat Serbia 3-1 in their only road game in Euro 2012 qualifying.

Tarmo Ruutli's men held the lead for 30 minutes against Italy in their first encounter in September before the Azzurri scored two second half goals to win 2-1.

Estonia have conceded six goals in five group games so far.

PROBABLE LINE-UPS

Italy (4-3-1-2)
Buffon; Maggio, Ranocchia, Chiellini, Balzaretti; Montolivo, Pirlo, Marchisio; Aquilani; Rossi, Cassano

Italy coach Cesare Prandelli will be without the services of Manchester City striker Mario Balotelli who was forced to leave the Coverciano training base with a knee injury. Thiago Motta will also miss out on Friday night’s festivities in Modena with a leg problem while Daniele De Rossi was excluded from the squad for breaching Prandelli’s code of conduct.

Estonia (4-4-1-1)
Pareiko; Klavan, Piiroja, Rahn, Jaager; Kruglov, Purje, Kink, Puri; Saag; Ahjupera

Tarmo Ruutli will be without key duo Aleksandr Dmitrijev and Konstantin Vassiljev for the match on Friday. Andres Oper and Andrei Sidorenkov will also miss the crunch clash through injury.

Prediction
Italy are undefeated in the current qualifying campaign and have more than enough firepower to comfortably see off the visitors in Modena.
Italy 2-0 Estonia