Overview
After two consecutive defeats in the World Cup qualifiers, the Italian team began their journey to end 12 years of hardship with a humiliating 0-3 defeat to Norway. This is a match that marked the end of the Luciano Spalletti era and opened a new era under Gennaro Gattuso.
The 2006 world champion now inherits a team that is rated significantly lower than their Norwegian opponent in Group I. However, Gattuso still aims to help the young team not miss the third consecutive World Cup.
With a gap of 9 points and 2 unmatched matches in hand, Azzurri entered the September international break with the task of narrowing the gap. They opened with a win over Estonia at Bergamo.
After breaking the deadlock right before the break, Gattuso's team played explosively and ended the match with a convincing 5-0 victory. A few days later, they traveled to Hungary's field.
Here, Italy faced a direct competitor for second place in the group, Israel. Despite falling behind twice, the Azzurri rose strongly to lead 4-2. They seemed to have held on to victory, but conceded 2 goals in the final minutes of a chaotic match.
With Gattuso continuously showing his anger on the touchline, it seems that another sad chapter is about to be written in the history of Italy's qualifiers. However, Sandro Tonali shined with the decisive goal in the extra minute, bringing a thrilling victory of 5-4.
The tense images between Gattuso and captain Gianluigi Donnarumma after the final whistle spoke to all the emotions of a dramatic night. However, before thinking about the rematch against Israel next week, Italy needs to complete the task of winning all 3 points against Estonia.
While the visitors are still considered a candidate for the top spot, Estonia has only won 3 points after 5 matches in Group I.
Standing 129th in the FIFA rankings - 119 places behind Italy - Estonia will have to win all 3 remaining matches to have a strong hope of qualifying for the finals.
In fact, they are looking forward to a confrontation with Moldova, as both are trying to avoid finishing in last place in the 5-team group.
Coach Jurgen Henn's team suffered consecutive defeats against Israel and Norway, before being crushed 5-0 by the Italian team. Their only point so far came from Moldova's 3-2 home win.
In the most recent friendly match last month, Estonia was held to a 0-0 draw by Andorra - the team considered weaker. So far, they have gone more than 300 minutes without scoring a single goal. Therefore, ending the drought of goals is clearly the most urgent goal at the moment.
After hosting the four-time world champions, the Baltic team will return home to face Moldova. This is considered the clearest opportunity for them to gain more points in the qualifying round.
Personnel situation
Although Gattuso has affirmed his readiness to switch to a 3-defender formation when necessary, Italy will likely start the match with a 4-man defense system.
In the first leg last month, Mateo Retegui and Moise Kean created a threat in attack when they scored 3 goals together. The duo are expected to continue to work side by side in the starting lineup, with the aim of maintaining the harmony and efficiency of the Azzurri in the front line.
With a significantly more limited squad, the Estonian national team has called up a list of 26 familiar players, most of whom are regulars in the past. A notable highlight is PAOK striker Karel Mustmaa, who was called up to the national team for the first time.
Expected lineup:
Estonia: Hein, Schjonning-Larsen, Kuusk, Paskotsi, Saliste, Shein, Palumets, Yakovlev, Kait, Sinyavskiy, Sappinen.
Italy: Donnarumma, Di Lorenzo, Mancini, Bastoni, Dimarco, Orsolini, Barella, Locatelli, Tonali, Kean, Retegui.
The match between Estonia and Italy takes place at 1:45 am on October 12 (Vietnam time).
