If Daniele De Rossi and Leonardo Bonucci are not 100 per cent fit, Italy could start Roberto Gagliardini and Alessio Romagnoli against Albania.
The World Cup qualifier kicks off at the Stadio Barbera in Palermo on Friday at 19.45 GMT.
The Azzurri will then visit Holland for a friendly next Tuesday evening.
Coach Giampiero Ventura tested out the 4-2-4 formation in training today, which is technically a 4-4-2 with very attack-minded wingers.
If Daniele De Rossi and Leonardo Bonucci are not 100 per cent fit, Italy could start Roberto Gagliardini and Alessio Romagnoli against Albania.
The World Cup qualifier kicks off at the Stadio Barbera in Palermo on Friday at 19.45 GMT.
The Azzurri will then visit Holland for a friendly next Tuesday evening.
Coach Giampiero Ventura tested out the 4-2-4 formation in training today, which is technically a 4-4-2 with very attack-minded wingers.
There are two doubts due to fitness issues, primarily regarding De Rossi and Bonucci.
The Roma midfielder is fatigued from recent outings in Serie A, the Coppa Italia and Europa League.
It’s reported that if De Rossi isn’t fully fit, then 22-year-old Gagliardini could be given his senior Italy debut after impressing at Atalanta and then Inter this season.
This would be an all-new and very young midfield for the Azzurri, pairing Gagliardini with 24-year-old Paris Saint-Germain talent Marco Verratti.
Ventura would also look to youth in the defence if Bonucci doesn’t fully recover from a flu bug that forced him to miss training today.
There are two alternatives, as he could go for Bonucci’s Juventus teammate Daniele Rugani – who is already accustomed to working with Andrea Barzagli – or Milan’s more experienced Romagnoli.
If those two veterans were to be replaced by the younger models, the average age of Italy’s outfield players against Albania would be 23 – and that’s including 35-year-old Barzagli.
Italy (probable): Buffon; Zappacosta, Barzagli, Bonucci (Romagnoli), De Sciglio; Verratti, De Rossi (Gagliardini); Candreva, Immobile, Belotti, Insigne