Italy v Argentina - Preview and possible lineups

Italy:

Gianluigi Buffon has reversed his international retirement and will likely line up between the sticks for the 'Azzurri' while Gian Marco Ferrari, Federico Chiesa and Patrick Cutron are all in with a chance of making their debuts. Giorgio Chiellini had to withdraw from the squad due to injury and was replaced by Angelo Ogbonna.

Argentina:

Sergio Aguero will not feature for 'La Albiceleste' as he recovers from a knee problem but uncapped Fabricio Bustos, Maximiliano Meza, Pablo Perez and Lautaro Martinez could make their first appearances in Friday's game.

Italy 'interim' boss Luigi Di Biagio:

"Despite the great disappointment of November (1-0 aggregate loss to Sweden in the two-leg World Cup playoff), there is no other way but to look forward. We can't change the past".

"We're not among the best national teams but we're not among the worst, either. If we can start again with a little bit of patience, we can rebuild a strong national team because we have young players who are still developing and improving."

Argentina manager Jorge Sampaoli:

"We are candidates to win the World Cup: we cannot deny our essence. The respect that this 'Seleccion' (national team) generates is very great, and I want to promote that".

"This is much more Messi's team than mine. Leo is in his maturity stage, he trained incredibly and encouraged everyone".

Did you know?

Italy have kept nine clean sheets in their last 13 fixtures and will hoping to their defence can keep Argentina's talisman Lionel Messi quiet.

Prediciton:

Will be a tightly contested match but Argentina will come out on top 2-1.

Possible lineups:

Italy: Buffon; Florenzi, Bonucci, Rugani, Darmian; Candreva, Verratti, Jorginho, Insigne; Cutrone, Immobile.

Argentina: Romero; Otamendi, Mascherano, Mercado; Di Maria, Banega, Biglia, Lanzini, Salvio; Messi, Martinez.