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The two sides at the top of Group C of the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers face off on Sunday as Switzerland welcome Italy to the St. Jakob-Park Stadium.
The hosts head into the game off the back of a 2-1 friendly win over Greece, while the visitors played out a 1-1 draw with Bulgaria in round four of the qualifiers.
Switzerland returned to action on Wednesday when they claimed a 2-1 win over Greece on home turf.
In a riveting contest, Steven Zuber and Ruben Vargas scored on either side of Vangelis Pavlidis’ equalizer to hand Switzerland all three points.
This followed an impressive run at the European Championship where they bowed out in the quarter-finals courtesy of a penalty shootout defeat against Spain.
Switzerland have a perfect record in World Cup qualifying so far, claiming two wins from two games, and will look to maintain this record.
Similarly, European champions Italy returned to action on Thursday when they played out a 1-1 draw against Bulgaria.
Juventus man Federico Chiesa gave the Italians the lead in the 16th minute before Atanas Iliev scored six minutes before the break to force a share of the spoils.
With 10 points from four games, the Azzurri are currently seated at the top of Group C, four points above Sunday’s visitors.
Italy have now equaled Spain and Brazil’s record of 35 games without a defeat and will be looking to break the record.
Switzerland vs Italy Head-To-Head
Italy have been utterly dominant in the history of this fixture, claiming 29 wins from their last 58 meetings. Switzerland have picked up just seven wins in that time, while 22 games have ended in draws.
Switzerland Form Guide (all competitions): W-L-W-W-L
Italy Form Guide (all competitions): D-W-W-W-W
Switzerland vs Italy Team News
Switzerland
Kevin Mbabu, Xherdan Shaqiri, Loris Benito, Mario Gavranovic, Breel Embolo and Eray Comert are all out due to injuries in a big blow to the Swiss. Granit Xhaka missed the last game against Greece due to COVID-19 and is a doubt for this game.
Injured: Kevin Mbabu, Xherdan Shaqiri, Loris Benito, Mario Gavranovic, Breel Embolo, Eray Comert
Doubtful: Granit Xhaka
Suspended: None
Italy
The Azzurri will be without AS Roma full-back Leonardo Spinazzola, who sustained a severe injury in the European Championship. Andrea Belotti, Manuel Lazzari and goalkeeper Alex Meret have also withdrawn due to injuries.
Injured: Leonardo Spinazzola, Andrea Belotti, Manuel Lazzari, Alex Meret
Suspended: None
Switzerland vs Italy Predicted XI
Switzerland Predicted XI (3-5-2): Yann Sommer; Nico Elvedi, Fabian Schär, Manuel Akanji; Silvan Widmer; Djibril Sow, Steven Zuber, Remo Freuler, Ricardo Rodríguez; Ruben Vargas, Haris Seferović
Italy Predicted XI (4-3-3): Gianluigi Donnarumma; Emerson Palmieri, Giorgio Chiellini, Leonardo Bonucci, Giovanni Di Lorenzo; Jorginho, Marco Verratti, Nicolo Barella; Federico Chiesa, Ciro Immobile, Lorenzo Insigne
Switzerland vs Italy Prediction
Looking at both side’s recent run of results, we can expect an action-packed and frenetic contest on Sunday. However, Switzerland will be going against a solid Italy side who are unbeaten since September 2018. We predict Italy will maintain this blistering form and come away with a narrow win.
Prediction: Switzerland 1-2 Italy
