Italy – Northern Ireland: Play-off cloud hangs over Bergamo 
This Thursday night Bergamo will be a pressure cooker. Italy’s World Cup fate is on the line in a hair-trigger play-off semi-final against Northern Ireland. The winner moves on to face Wales or Bosnia for a ticket to North America; the loser goes home and watches the tournament on TV.
Italy desperate to exorcise its demons 
Say the word “play-offs” around the Azzurri and watch faces drop. Knocked out by Sweden and then North Macedonia in the last two cycles, Italy absolutely won’t accept missing out a third time.
Under Gennaro Gattuso — who came in for Spalletti — they steadied the ship for a while, then shipped a humiliating 4-1 against Haaland’s Norway in the group “final”. Gattuso knows nerves are rattled; he even shifted the game from San Siro to Bergamo to avoid the Milan crowd turning on them. There’s no plan B: Italy must calm the crowd, spark the game and score early before doubt sets in.
Northern Ireland chasing a miracle 
The Green and White Army arrives with nothing to lose and everything to dream about — a return to the World Cup for the first time in 40 years. Dragged back in via the Nations League, Michael O’Neill’s side know the mountain they’re facing: Italy are four-time world champions and heavy favourites.
The cold facts don’t lie: Northern Ireland haven’t won in Italy in seven attempts and haven’t scored there since a friendly in 1961. Outclassed technically on this stage, they’ll have to sit in, park a solid defensive block and hope. The chance is tiny, but if they can frustrate Italy they’ll gamble everything and pray for a set-piece robbery.
Probable line-ups
Italy : Donnarumma ; Calafiori, Mancini, Bastoni ; Cambiaso, Tonali, Locatelli, Barella, Dimarco ; Kean, Retegui
Northern Ireland : P. Charles ; Hume, McConville, Brown, McNair, Devenny ; Saville, S. Charles, McCann ; Price, Reid
Football Prediction Italy vs Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland to stay scoreless (90 minutes)
The ghost of play-offs will make the start nervy for Italy. Fair enough. But Gattuso’s team are solid at the back — the Norway result was a wobble, not the full picture — and Northern Ireland struggle to create against elite opposition. They’ve never really troubled teams on Italian soil. Expect the hosts to control the tempo, lock up their box and win without conceding.
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