France v Italy: Zidane’s side aim to maintain perfect Nations League start

France and Italy meet in Paris on Friday as two historic rivals continue their UEFA Nations League campaigns in Group 1 of League A at the Stade de France.

Zinedine Zidane has made an almost perfect start as France manager, winning both of his matches away from home. Les Bleus beat Turkiye 1-0 in Kocaeli, with captain Kylian Mbappe scoring after half-time, before Michael Olise came off the bench to secure a 1-0 victory over Belgium in Brussels on Monday.

France had twice hit the woodwork before Olise’s decisive contribution. The result was their seventh consecutive win against Belgium and left them top of Group 1 with six points from six.

The match will have added significance for Zidane, who spent five years of his playing career at Juventus. France and Italy both won 3-1 away from home in the previous edition of the Nations League, while France lead their head-to-head record 4-2 since Italy’s victory in the 2006 World Cup final – Zidane’s final match as a player.

Italy began Roberto Mancini’s second spell in charge with a disappointing 2-0 home defeat by Belgium, but responded emphatically by beating Turkiye 4-1 in Bursa on Monday.

Alessandro Bastoni, Davide Frattesi and Michael Kayode put Italy three goals ahead before half-time, with Kayode making an impressive senior international debut. Pio Esposito then continued his strong scoring record for the national team by adding a fourth after Turkiye had pulled one goal back.

Esposito, the Inter Milan forward, now has six goals in 11 international appearances. He started alongside his brother Sebastiano against Turkiye.

Mancini is using the Nations League to develop his squad for the next European Championship after Italy’s recent failure in World Cup qualifying. The team will return briefly to their training centre before travelling to the French capital, then host Turkiye in Bologna three days later.

France’s Nations League form is V, V; Italy’s is D, V.

With four competitive matches in 11 days, Zidane could make further changes. Only Mike Maignan and Maxence Lacroix retained their places for the previous match. With Ibrahima Konate and William Saliba absent, Jeremy Jacquet partnered Lacroix at centre-back, while Andy Diouf and Lucas Da Cunha made their first senior appearances.

Mbappe was injured while scoring in Turkiye, so Esteban Lepaul led the attack against Belgium, but Ousmane Dembele could replace him. Italy’s Mateo Retegui was not selected and Giacomo Raspadori has picked up an injury, leaving Moise Kean and Gianluca Scamacca competing with the Esposito brothers.

Mancini named a 34-man squad, although 10 players were unused on Monday. Nicolo Barella, Honest Ahanor and Gianluca Mancini could return to the group.

Probable teams

France: Maignan; Kalulu, Upamecano, Lacroix, Truffert; Cherki, Kone, Rabiot; Olise, Dembele, Doue.

Italy: Donnarumma; Kayode, Mancini, Bastoni, Calafiori; Barella, Fagioli, Tonali; S. Esposito, P. Esposito, Cambiaghi.

France win and under 4.5 goals is priced at 1.81, Ousmane Dembele to score at 1.90 and Desire Doue to score or assist at 1.85.