England haven’t enjoyed a great start to the UEFA Nations League; they are bottom of League A in Group 3 and will be hoping to change this when they host leaders Italy on Match Day 3. The Three Lions needed a late penalty goal to pick their first point in a 1-1 draw with Germany last time out, that coming after a 1-0 away loss to Hungary. It hasn’t been very rosy for them in the Nations League, with just one win in their last five matches. They’ve failed to score in three of those five Nations League matches, and kept just one clean sheet. Their only win in five Nations League matches was against Iceland, a 4-0 win, which is also the only time they scored more than a goal in their last five games. Only three of England’s last 10 Nations League matches have produced over 2.5 goals.

Italy are top of the group with four points and are coming from a 2-1 home win over Hungary, building on a 1-1 draw with Germany earlier. Some stability is coming to Italy’s fold but they still have a lot to do defensively, having failed to keep a clean sheet in the last five matches. They have two clean sheets only in the last 10 matches. They are unbeaten in their last three Nations League matches, and have just one loss in 12 matches in this competition. This meeting will be the first between these two nations since facing off in the Euro 2020 final, which Italy won on post-match penalties. While England will be seeking to avenge that as well as getting their first win in this season’s competition, Italy haven’t lost in four away games in this competition. They’ve also kept straight clean sheets in the four away matches in the Nations League.