Italy vs Uruguay - What we can expect - Preview and prediction

Luis Suarez and Andrea Pirlo – The two talismans for their respective teams

The final game of Group D (group of death) is poised in a situation which looked highly unlikely before the World Cup had started. Italy and Uruguay were pipped as favourites to enhance into the knockout stages of the tournament, but both sides are one game away from the brink of an early exit. While Italy made things tough for themselves after losing to Costa Rica in their second match, a Luis Suarez inspired Uruguay knocked out England and kept their chances alive to progress to the next round.

Both the teams come into this match with everything on the line as it is a make or break game for them. A draw will do for Italy while nothing more than a win for Uruguay can save their campaign. All these equations and probabilities lead to the fact that we are in for an intriguing encounter at the Estadio das Dunas, Natal, in Brazil.

Venue

Estadio das Dunas

Situated in Natal, Brazil, Estadio das Dunas will be hosting the Italy – Uruguay clash amongst a maximum capacity of 45,000. The stadium was one of the most appreciated projects by FIFA. Replacing the old Machadão stadium, which got demolished in October 2011, the structural design is inspired by Natal’s famous sand dunes. It will host a total of four matches in the tournament

Kickoff

Indian time – 9.30 pm

Local time – 1.00 pm

Possible Starting line ups

Uruguay will see the return of Maximillian Pereira after serving a red card suspension. Other than that, the South Americans will field in the same line up with Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani leading the attack. They will field in their starting 11 in a regular 4-4-2 formation and look to hit the Italians on the break.

Uruguay (4-4-2): Muslera, M.Pereira, Lugano, Godín, Cáceres, Gargano, A.Ríos, Stuani, Rodríguez, Suarez, Cavani.

On the other hand, Italy are going to utilise their 3-5-2 tactics for the first time in the tournament. With Danielle De Rossi missing out due to injury, Andrea Pirlo will drop back to his usual Regista role and operate from a deeper position. Verratti and Marchisio will partner him in midfield while Ciro Immobile will start in attack with Mario Balotelli.

Italy (3-5-2): Buffon, Barzagli, Bonucci, Chiellini, Darmian, Pirlo, Verratti, Marchisio, De Sciglio, Balotelli, Immobile.

Key Facts

- Italy have managed just two wins in nine previous attempts against Uruguay (D4 L3).

- Italy haven’t lost to a South American team in the WorldCup group stages since 1962 (W2, D6).

- Uruguay have faced Italy twice in the FIFA World Cup; they failed to score in both matches (D1 L1).

- Luis Suarez has netted five times in his seven World Cup appearances.

- Uruguay’s third group game against Italy will be their 50th at the World Cup.

- Italy have been caught offside 18 times in their opening two group games; twice as many times as Uruguay (9).

Key Battles

Luis Suarez vs Giorgio Chiellini

Luis Suarez returned against England and showed why he is one of the best players in the world at the moment. The Liverpool striker, who was immensely missed in the game against Costa Rica, struck twice to send England packing their bags out of the tournament. And he will be the biggest threat again only for the Italians this time around as Giorgio Chiellini will have to be fully aware of his presence and movement during the entire 90 minutes. One mistake is all that Suarez needs as we all know that he doesn’t need a second invitation for goal.

Pirlo vs Gargano

Andrea Pirlo is the heart of this Italian side and any opponent knows that stopping him means rendering the Azzurris ineffective. When given space and time, Pirlo can launch those long through balls to penetrate defences in an instant, but the Juventus playmaker can be unsettled if he is pressurised. Gargano will have to make sure that he does the job of getting at Pirlo’s face whenever he gets on the ball so as to stop the flow of midfield play.

Prediction

With so much at stake, this will be a do or die battle between the two teams who are one step away from either an exit or a qualification. Italy will utilise their possession game and look to attack from wide areas as well as the centre of the pitch. Uruguay will be a compact side while defending and will look to break on the counter mostly relying on their formidable attacking duo of Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani. Even though Uruguay are well capable of scoring 2 or 3 goals, we can expect a stallion show of grit by Prandelli’s men and halt their progress with a draw.

Predicted scoreline: Italy 1-1 Uruguay