Smart Acca Picks: Italy vs England Could be one to Watch

Italy faces England in a must-win match for the Three Lions if they are to avoid relegation from League A Group 3.

Roberto Mancini’s men were thumped 5-2 by Germany last time out after a 0-0 draw with England in Italy. Prior to this, the Euro 2020 winners had beaten Hungary 2-1 and drew with Die Mannschaft 1-1 after a 3-0 defeat to Argentina in the UEFA-CONMEBOL Cup of Champions.

On the other hand, England were humiliated 4-0 at the hands of Hungary, posing real questions over Gareth Southgate’s future. Prior to this, the Three Lions had drawn 0-0 and 1-1 with Italy and Germany after losing 1-0 to the Magyars following a 3-0 friendly win against the Ivory Coast thanks to goals by Ollie Watkins, Raheem Sterling and Tyrone Mings.

In League C Group 4, top of the table Georgia takes on North Macedonia, with the home side able to confirm promotion if they win.

Before their 0-0 draw with Bulgaria, Georgia managed to beat North Macedonia 3-0, Bulgaria 5-2 and Gibraltar 4-0 of which Napoli sensation Khvicha Kvaratskhelia scored in all three of their victories.

North Macedonia enters this match off the back of a 4-0 win at home to Gibraltar off the back of their 3-0 loss to Georgia. Before these results, they had beaten Gibraltar 2-0 after drawing 1-1 away at Bulgaria.

Bulgaria and Gibraltar meet at the Ludogorets Arena for the first time since November 2020, where the hosts won 3-0 thanks to goals from Aleksandar Tsvetkov, Georgi Yomov and Dimitar Iliev.

The home side are without a win in their last five matches, as they have drawn 0-0 and 1-1 with Georgia and Gibraltar after 5-2 and 2-1 losses to the former and Croatia on either side of a 1-1 draw with North Macedonia.

Gibraltar have lost both of their last two away games by 4-0 scorelines to North Macedonia and Georgia on either side of their 0-0 draw with Bulgaria and 2-0 defeat to North Macedonia.

Estonia face off against Malta in League D Group 2 of the Nations League with both sides locked on six points, with the hosts having a game in hand.

So far in the Nations League, Estonia have beaten San Marino and Malta on either side of a 5-0 friendly loss to Argentina.

On the other hand, Malta’s two victories have came at the expense of San Marino via 2-0 and 1-0 scorelines on either side of their 2-1 home defeat to Estonia where Konstantin Vassiljev and Henri Anier scored for the away side after a 56th-minute own goal from Karl Hein had gifted Malta an equaliser.

The final tip on this list comes from Finland against Romania in League B Group 3, with both sides battling to avoid relegation.

Finland lead Romania by one point, having amassed four points from four matches. The home side started their Nations League campaign in a decent fashion, having drawn 1-1 with Bosnia-Herzegovina and beaten Montenegro 2-0 before suffering 1-0 and 3-2 losses to Romania and Bosnia.

Romania are having a torrid time, as since their 2-2 friendly draw with Israel in March, they have lost 2-0 and 3-0 to Montenegro, as well as 1-0 against Bosnia-Herzegovina. Their only win in their last five came at the expense of Finland as Nicușor Bancu scored the only goal of the game, despite there being a total of 34 shots in the match.