National coach Pietro Ghedin will be aiming to see his side obtaining another respectable result this evening as Malta faces ‘his’ Italy in a Euro 2016 qualifier in Florence.

It is the seventh match in Group H for both teams with the Italians occupying second place on 12 points, two behind Croatia who have 14. The latter have had a reduction of one point, but they have appealed against the decision. Malta is at the bottom of the standings with just one point following the opening six matches.

It is to be remembered that Malta lost narrowly 1-0 against Italy at Ta’ Qali last October despite playing for most of the time without top striker Michael Mifsud, who was dismissed by the official midway through the first half.

That was deemed to be a very respectable result for Malta and that is what Ghedin wishes to see his boys doing again this evening, and perhaps (why not?) also something better.

Despite the negative results (with the exception of that 1-1 draw in Sofia against Bulgaria) it is an undeniable fact that the Maltese have improved upon their performances and were certainly rather unlucky on certain occasions.

No one will be expecting Malta to come out with a positive result this evening against such illustrious opponents. What one expects is a sturdy performance by the 11 selected by Ghedin who must produce their very best to try and keep the Azzurri at bay.

The Italian coach is able to include all his best players in his 18-man squad for today’s match.

I expect him to start with a 4-5-1 formation with Birkirkara goalie Justin Haber between the posts. Alex Muscat, Steve Borg, Andrei Agius and Clayton Failla should be the back four. In midfield, Ghedin may opt to make use of Roderick Briffa, the in-form Rowen Muscat, Paul Fenech, Bjorn Kristensen and Andre Schembri, while Michael Mifsud should be the only striker.

The match at the Stadio Artemio Franchi in Florence starts at 8.45pm. It is being screened live on TVM 2 and RAI Uno.

Photo Paul Zammit Cutajar