England vs Italy notebook: Tammy Abraham to star

Molineux hosts a repeat of the Euro 2020 final on Saturday evening as England face Italy in the Nations League behind closed doors; follow the match in our dedicated live blog across Sky Sports’ digital platforms; kick-off is at 7.45pm

As England prepare to face Italy for the first time since the Euro 2020 final, Sky Sports News senior reporter Rob Dorsett looks at the key talking points ahead of the Nations League fixture at Molineux. Could Tammy Abraham lead the line? Will Jack Grealish continue his super-sub role?

Abraham at top of his game
Tammy Abraham is a really interesting one. I think he’s got a really strong chance of starting this match, which sounds extraordinary when you think Harry Kane has just reached 50 goals in an England shirt.

Kane has played both matches in this Nations League campaign so far though – against Hungary and Germany – while Abraham has not had any minutes yet.

He’s in cracking form, too. Seventeen goals for Roma in Serie A and 29 in all competitions, the highest-scoring Englishman in Italy since Gerry Hitchens in 1962. That’s the form he’s in, so he’s absolutely at the top of his game.

The battle for the understudy position in Gareth Southgate’s World Cup squad is very much alive and well. Abraham will be desperate to start this game so that he can stake a claim for that with Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Patrick Bamford and Ollie Watkins not involved in this squad. A real opportunity for Abraham if he gets the chance.

Is Grealish England’s super-sub?
Jack Grealish made a real impact against Germany. His direct running, and his slick inter-passing were really, really impressive and it’s become a big, big debate – is he now England’s super-sub or does he start?

Grealish has only started three of the previous 11 internationals for England and the last game he started was in October last year against Hungary.

He did make a difference when he came on against Germany and when you look at the stats, he exceeded Bukayo Saka, he matched Mason Mount and Jude Bellingham for the number of passes he made in the final third, and he was only the pitch for 20 minutes.

However, Southgate did challenge Grealish to improve his tactical nous if he was going to get a regular starting place for England. What I think he’s talking about there is recoveries, tackles, blocks, and working back for the team, which is a huge part of Mount’s game for Chelsea and England.

A lot of work that Mount does for England is not particularly noticed because we think of him as a creative midfielder, but he works very hard for the team and works back a lot.

That’s what Southgate wants Grealish to do more of. Will Mount do that role again? He started the previous two games – two games in four days for him – so you would have to guess he will probably be given a rest. That does potentially open the door for Grealish and a lot of England fans are clamouring for that.

Tomori, Guehi, Ward-Prowse in from the start?
Fikayo Tomori and Marc Guehi missed the start of this England training camp because they came into it with injuries, but the AC Milan defender, in particular, has a really strong chance of taking part in this game against Italy.

He’s going to be up against opposition he knows very, very well in Italy. AC Milan conceded only 31 goals all season – that was the joint-lowest in the division and Tomori’s been absolutely key for that. We might not have seen too much of it in this country but Southgate and his assistant Steve Holland have. He’s arguably England’s most in-form centre-back right now. The fact he’s back available could be really, really valuable.

James Ward-Prowse also looks in line to start with the Southampton captain joining Southgate in the pre-match press conference at St George’s Park, so a real opportunity for him to impress too.

Foden back after Covid-19, Phillips out
Phil Foden is back in the England camp. He was training on Friday and that’s big news because he was absent for the first two games against Hungary and Germany having tested positive for Covid-19 when he first signed up for international duty. Southgate said he was hopeful he might be back in time if he was symptom-free to be involved in these final two matches against Italy and Hungary at Molineux.

Kalvin Phillips is missing though after coming off with a dead leg against Germany. He was a key part of Southgate’s side in the Euros and I think he would have wanted to play him in this game against Italy. He and Declan Rice are the first-choice holding midfield players that Southgate always goes with against the bigger and better teams, which you have to say Italy are.

Behind-closed-doors game embarrassing for England
After the trouble at the Euro 2020 final last summer, England have been ordered to play this game behind closed doors by UEFA, but the stadium will not be completely empty. Around 3,000 local schoolchildren under the age of 14 have been given free tickets to Molineux to watch the game.

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So it will not be completely empty, but it will be a stark reminder of why England are being punished. We all remember those scenes outside Wembley last year when there was widespread violence and disorder, fans breaking through into the ground without tickets. UEFA took a very dim view of it and said England must play one game behind closed doors and another suspended.

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It’s a shame because it’s a repeat of that final against Italy and a chance for England to get a bit of revenge. So it will be a strange atmosphere and a little bit embarrassing for English football in truth.

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