Italy v England betting tips: Three Lions out to impress

The 26-year-old has not represented his country at any level and went on a myriad of loans before impressing at Peterborough and shining for Brentford.

Toney has scored five goals this season and will be desperate to show he should lead England’s attack if anything happens to Harry Kane.

Tammy Abraham is also in the squad but it would be a surprise if Toney does not get some time on the pitch and he is 9/2 to score the last goal of the match.

Ready to get going.

Congratulations on your first #ThreeLions call-up, @ivantoney24 👏 pic.twitter.com/vYetTACHAc

— England (@England) September 20, 2022

Italy have one eye on the future

The timing of the World Cup means there will be little preparation time once domestic leagues are paused in November.

That should ensure Southgate names his strongest possible team in Milan and he will be keen to bounce back from the disappointing results in the summer.

“Reflecting on the last couple of months, clearly as an international manager you don’t have any games to quickly put the disappointment behind you,” the England manager said.

“We have had a long period to reflect but now we are really looking forward to two high-quality matches that will be a great test for us and a crucial part of our preparation for the World Cup.

“It is only eight weeks until we will be naming our squad for Qatar so every minute counts.”

In contrast to Southgate, Italy coach Roberto Mancini is looking to the future with his squad and has given opportunities to several new faces including Leeds youngster Wilfried Gnonto.

Italy may have claimed the bragging rights at the Euro 2020 final after famously winning the penalty shoot-out but they have been inconsistent since then.

Home draws with Bulgaria and Switzerland plus away to Northern Ireland proved costly in World Cup qualifying and their play-off defeat at home to North Macedonia was a huge surprise.

Their last outing was a 5-2 defeat in Germany and the goalless draw with England in June was their only clean sheet in the last seven matches.

For the last of our Italy v England predictions, we like the #YourCall option of 11/2 for England to avoid defeat, both teams to score in the second half and over 2.5 goals.

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All odds and markets correct as of date of publication