England host Italy at Wembley Stadium on Tuesday in matchday eight of the UEFA Euro Qualifiers. In the replay of the Euro 2020 Final, England will look to fully take control of Group C, whereas Italy need to win to close in on qualification.
The Three Lions currently sit top of Group C after five games. With four wins and one draw, England are the only unbeaten team in the group on 13 points.
In their last five games in all competitions, England have four wins and a draw. Ferdinando Apap opened the scoring in the game against Malta, but scored an own goal to give England the lead. Trent Alexander-Arnold also scored, and with a penalty each from Harry Kane and Callum Wilson, England beat Malta 4 - 0. England were once again amongst the goals against North Macedonia. Marcus Rashford and Kalvin Phillips both scored, as well as a brace from Kane and a hat-trick from Bukayo Saka in a 7 - 0 win for the Three Lions.
The one draw came against Ukraine. Oleksandr Zinchenko opened the scoring for Ukraine in the first half, but Kyle Walker equalised before halftime. Despite registering 11 shots in comparison to Ukraine’s two shots, England couldn’t find a way through and the game finished 1 - 1. Against fierce rivals Scotland, England dominated, preventing a single shot on target for Scotland. Phil Foden, Jude Bellingham and Kane all scored in the 3 - 1 win for England, with Harry Maguire scoring an own goal for Scotland.
The last time out for England was against Australia. Ollie Watkins grabbed the only goal of the game as England won 1 - 0.
Italy sit second in Group C after three wins, one draw and one loss in five games. With ten points to their name, Italy are just three points behind England but are on equal points with Ukraine.
In their last five games in all competitions, Italy have three wins, one draw and a loss. In the Nations League Semi-final Italy faced Spain. Yeremy Pino scored in the third minute for Spain, but a penalty from Ciro Immoblie just eight minutes later levelled the game. However, Joselu grabbed a goal for Spain in the 88th minute to give them a 2 - 1 win. However, Italy had a better time out in the match for third place. Federico Dimarco, Davide Frattesi and Federico Chiesa all scored in the 3 - 2 win, having a big enough lead to ward off the late comeback from the Netherlands and Steven Bergwijn and Georginio Wijnaldum.
Italy once again disappointed against North Macedonia. Immobile opened the scoring early in the second half, but Enis Bardhi scored in the 81st minute to grab a 1 - 1 draw for North Macedonia. However, Italy bounced back against Ukraine. Frattesi grabbed a brace in the first half as Italy beat Ukraine 2 - 1.
The most recent outing for Italy was against Malta. Giacomo Bonaventura and Frattesi scored as well as a brace from Domenico Berardi in a dominant 4 - 0 win over Malta.
England and Italy have met 31 times in their histories, with the first meeting coming back in 1933. Italy have the better record in the fixture with 13 wins in comparison to England’s nine wins. In fact, a draw in this fixture is just as common as an England win, happening on nine occasions.