Turkey vs Italy Predictions

• Six of Turkey’s last eight games have seen both teams score
• Both teams have netted in eight of Italy’s last nine away friendlies
• The last two friendlies between these two sides have been drawn 1-1

The match nobody wants

After losing to Portugal in their World Cup play-off on Thursday, Turkey have to somehow pick themselves up for a pretty meaningless friendly against an equally crestfallen Italy.

Stefan Kuntz’s side suffered a 3-1 defeat in that game, showing their frailties in defence, with their only two clean sheets in their last eight matches coming against Gibraltar.

Both teams have scored in three of their last five friendlies, and in six of those previous eight games, so they are good going forward, but may struggle to keep Italy quiet at the other end.

Italy desperate to bounce back

While Turkey were losing to Portugal, Italy suffered a shock 1-0 reversal to Macedonia, their first ever World Cup qualifying defeat that means they won’t be in Qatar either.

Roberto Mancini’s side are generally okay defensively in competitive games, but struggle a bit more in friendlies, failing to keep a clean sheet in their last ten on the road.

They head into this one having failed to score in their last two games, but both teams netted in their three games prior to that, against Switzerland, Belgium and Spain.

I predict both teams will score in what is likely to be quite a flat game, and I select 1-1 as a correct score prediction.