12′ CLOSE! Bastoni has acres of space to drive into and he does so as he wanders forward down the left-hand side. The centre-back then looks for Belotti at the back post and the forward is inches away from making contact with an acrobatic right-footed effort. Fortunately for Page’s men, Belotti can’t quite reach it and the ball goes out for a goal-kick.
11′ Ward considers speeding out of his box to intervene in front of Emerson but he immediately turns around as he realises Belotti’s pass is going out of play. With a slightly better ball into the left-hand channel, Ward’s indecisiveness could have cost his team there.
10′ Wales have made it out of the group stages in their previous two appearances at a major tournament (1958 World Cup, EURO 2016). If they avoid defeat in this game, they’re guaranteed a spot in the knockout stages of this tournament.
9′ Bernardeschi powers down the right flank but is then wasteful as his throughball for Pessina is overhit and travels through to Ward. Unlike the trio of Insigne, Berardi and Immobile, the Italian forwards are failing to connect with one another at the minute.
7′ Belotti seems interested for a moment or so as Bonucci plays him into the inside right-hand channel. Ward has different ideas, however, as he races off his line to sweep up the opportunity.
6′ Bonucci sends a diagonal pass aimlessly over the top of the Welsh defence and into the hands of Ward. It has been a fairly sedate start from the Italians, which perhaps could have been expected, given the number of changes Mancini made.
4′ Allen fails to latch onto a long pass into the area from the right flank but Williams is there to redirect towards the near post. Donnarumma, however, collects in front of James to remove the danger.
2′ Bernardeschi squares up Williams but the chance to attack fades away as the Italian forward was adjudged to be offside in the right-hand channel.
1′ With the national anthems over and done with, referee Ovidiu Hategan gets this game underway!
None of Italy and Wales’ previous nine meetings have ever ended in a draw, with Italy winning seven to Wales’ two victories. This is their first meeting at a major tournament.
Page makes three changes as he protects Davies, Mepham and Moore for a potential last-16 clash. The trio are all one booking away from a suspension, so Gunter, Ampadu and Williams take their places. It looks like Wales will change to a three-man defence, with either Bale and James as split strikers or Ramsey operating as a false nine in a 3-4-3 system.
Roberto Mancini opts for eight alterations, resting a number of key stars as he eyes the last-16 stage. Donnarumma, Jorginho and Bonucci, who takes the armband, are the only three to remain in the starting line-up. Bastoni takes the place of injured captain Giorgio Chiellini, while Emerson and Toloi both come in at full-back. In the middle, Verratti returns and Pessina replaces Locatelli. Up top, Mancini rings the changes as he rests Insigne, Domenico Berardi and Immobile and introduces Chiesa, Bernadeschi and Belotti.
SUBS: Ben Davies, Wayne Hennessey, David Brooks, Harry Wilson, Rhys Norrington-Davies, Adam Davies, Tyler Roberts, Tom Lockyer, Kieffer Moore, Chris Mepham, Dylan Levitt, Jonathan Williams.
WALES (3-5-2): Danny Ward; Chris Gunter, Joe Rodon, Ethan Ampadu; Neco Williams, Aaron Ramsey, Joe Morrell, Joe Allen, Connor Roberts; Daniel James, Gareth Bale.
SUBS: Gaetano Castrovilli, Lorenzo Insigne, Leonardo Spinazzola, Giovanni Di Lorenzo, Salvatore Sirigu, Francesco Acerbi, Giacomo Raspadori, Alex Meret, Ciro Immobile, Bryan Cristante, Manuel Locatelli, Nicolo Barella.
ITALY (4-3-3): Gianluigi Donnarumma; Rafael Toloi, Leonardo Bonucci, Alessandro Bastoni, Emerson; Jorginho, Marco Verratti, Matteo Pessina; Federico Bernadeschi, Andrea Belotti, Federico Chiesa.
Having earned a well-deserved point against Switzerland, largely thanks to Danny Ward’s heroics in goal, Wales put in a much more assured performance against Turkey to win 2-0. Due to the four best third-place finishers securing a last-16 spot, Rob Page’s men are virtually guaranteed to remain in the competition. A point, however, would secure second place for the visitors, while a defeat may also be enough if Switzerland fail to beat Turkey in the other Group A game.
Italy have won their first two games 3-0, coasting to victories over Turkey and then Switzerland to secure qualification to the knockout stages at Euro 2020. The Azzuri will be looking to confirm a first-place finish against Wales, while also looking to extend their unbeaten run to 30 games, which would equal their all-time longest unbeaten run (November 1935-July 1939).
Hello and welcome to live coverage of the Euro 2020 Group A fixture between Italy and Wales.
13′ Rodon produces a wonderful headed clearance inside his own six-yard area to clear away the danger from Chiesa’s cross. Williams will feel he has to do better to stop the cross from the right-hand side, otherwise it could be a long afternoon for him and the Welsh defence.