Antonio Conte is leaning towards the 4-3-3 system against Bulgaria, though the Italy line-up remains unpredictable.
This Euro 2016 qualifier kicks off at the Stadio Barbera in Palermo at 19.45 UK time (18.45 GMT).
The Coach is keeping his cards close to his chest and shrugged off all questions about his starting XI during a Press conference.
“Will Andrea Pirlo start? You’ll find out when the line-ups are announced.”
Antonio Conte is leaning towards the 4-3-3 system against Bulgaria, though the Italy line-up remains unpredictable.
This Euro 2016 qualifier kicks off at the Stadio Barbera in Palermo at 19.45 UK time (18.45 GMT).
The Coach is keeping his cards close to his chest and shrugged off all questions about his starting XI during a Press conference.
“Will Andrea Pirlo start? You’ll find out when the line-ups are announced.”
He also kept his training sessions under wraps, though some details are filtering through.
Sky Sport Italia and La Gazzetta dello Sport maintain he’ll continue the 4-3-3 system used to beat Malta 1-0 on Thursday.
Pirlo and Marco Verratti could well start together once again, but with Sampdoria’s Roberto Soriano or Lazio’s Marco Parolo completing the midfield in place of injured Andrea Bertolacci.
Alessandro Florenzi has been playing as a right-back for Roma recently and was reportedly tested out in the same position for Italy in training.
Matteo Darmian and Mattia De Sciglio are both comfortable playing on the right or left, so there are numerous options.
“Can Florenzi play right-back for Italy? He does it for Roma, so that means he could do here too,” commented Conte.
As for the trident attack, Southampton striker Graziano Pellè is the only certainty after his goal against Malta.
Options to flank him include Eder, Antonio Candreva, Lorenzo Insigne and Simone Zaza.
Although the 4-3-3 seems likely, a move to the 3-5-2 system cannot be ruled out either.
Italy (probable): Buffon; Florenzi, Bonucci, Chiellini, Darmian; Parolo, Pirlo, Verratti; Candreva, Pellè, Insigne
Bulgaria (probable): Mihaylov; Bandalovski, Aleksandrov, Bodurov, Minev; Dyakov, Chochev; Manolev, Popov, Nedelev; Rangelov