Well, I'm aware of the public bet where more than 80% of punters, bettors, and tipsters will be on Italy's side here, to win within a handicap against Macedonia. However, I will join this boat too, as I simply can't imagine my neighbors from Macedonia doing anything big here at this moment. Simply, it's not only about the quality difference but is also related to the missings in away team which should be crucial for a final result. The game will be played in Sicily - Palermo, one of my beloved cities and teams of Italy!

After winning Euro2020, Italy didn't find a proper form and have ended second in their group behind the Swiss national team. Now, Azzuri are in play-offs to avoid missing the second World Cup in a row. That would be a huge hit for the national team, even Euro can't be compared to World Cup so the motivation and seriousness of this game preparation are on a high level in Italy. Federico Chiesa is missing for Italy, he is still injured, while Leonardo Bonucci is with the team but may not be fit enough to start from the beginning. Francesco Acerbi will probably join Chiellini at the heart of Italy's defense.

On the other side, Macedonia, or call it North Macedonia, are looking for a first-ever World Cup experience after making their debut at Euro Championship last year. They have a heart and even once they surprised Germany to win over them on the road during the qualifications but after that, they didn't show much. Honestly saying, Germans heavily underestimated in that game and were not on their best so Macedonians took advantage of it. Happens. However, this game will be surely different as Italians won't allow any relaxation even despite the lead. Things will be worse here for visitors as Adis Jahovic is out of the list due to injury. Even worse sounds missing of the best player, who plays in Napoli, midfielder Elif Elmas who is probably one of the 2 best players in the Macedonian squad. Another missing because of cards suspension is that of Tihomir Kostadinov. Without those players, the away squad is significantly weaker. Don't forget that there is no more Goran Pandev in the Macedonian squad, an absolute legend which we saw on Euro2020. Without Elmas and him, be sure this is a way different team NOW.

Italy never failed to reach the World Cup twice in a row! They always work and give maximum to bounce back. Also, worth saying...Italy never lost the WC qualifying match at the home field. Italians usually need some time to click well, and usually, they play better those later games when meeting after a longer period, but this is a specific situation where they need to show up with so-known unity in the team to finish the task as soon as possible and get comfortable for the finals of qualifications. As I do expect Italians to lead before the 60th minute, opponents will need to open up and this will leave the space for fast forwards Insigne, Berrardi, and Immobile. If hosts win, they will meet a stronger opponent (Portugal or Turkey) in the finals of the qualifications for WC, so yeah, don't expect a high result as 5-0 but most likely 2-0, 3-0 result to happen.

我知道超过 80% 的投注者将在这里站在意大利一边，在让分的情况下战胜马其顿。然而，我也会加入这艘船，因为我根本无法想象我的马其顿邻居能在本场有所作为。简而言之，这不仅与实力差异有关，还与客队的缺席有关，这对最终结果至关重要。比赛将在西西里 - 巴勒莫进行，这是我心爱的意大利城市和球队之一！

在赢得 2020 年欧洲杯之后，意大利没有找到状态，在小组中排名第二，落后瑞士。现在，意大利将会掉到附加赛中避免连续第二次错过世界杯。这对这支球队来说将是一个巨大的打击，即使是欧洲杯冠军也无法与世界杯相提并论，因此这场比赛准备的动力和认真程度在意大利处于高水平。费德里科·基耶萨（Federico Chiesa）仍然受伤，而莱昂纳多·博努奇（Leonardo Bonucci）在名单中，但可能不够健康，无法首发。Francesco Acerbi 很可能会基耶利尼搭档，成为意大利后防的核心。

另一方面，马其顿，或称其为北马其顿，在去年在欧洲锦标赛上首次亮相后，正在争取有史以来的第一次世界杯。他们有雄心，甚至他们在资格赛期间在客场击败德国让人感到惊讶，但在那之后，他们并没有表现出太多。老实说，德国人在那场比赛中严重低估了比赛，并且没有发挥出最好的水平，所以马其顿人成功利用了这一点。然而，这场比赛肯定会有所不同，因为即使领先，意大利人也不会有任何放松。由于阿迪斯·贾霍维奇（Adis Jahovic）因受伤不在名单之列，因此对客队来说情况会更糟。更糟糕的是，在那不勒斯踢球的最佳球员，中场球员埃利夫·埃尔马斯缺席了，他可能是马其顿队中最好的 2 名球员之一。另一个因停赛而失踪的是蒂霍米尔·科斯塔迪诺夫。没有这些球员，球队阵容明显更弱。不要忘记，戈兰·潘德夫已经不再队中，这是我们在 2020 年欧洲杯上看到的绝对传奇。如果缺少了 Elmas 和他，这是一支不同的球队。

意大利从来没有连续两次打进世界杯！他们总是努力，并最大限度地反弹。另外，值得一提的是……意大利从未在主场输掉过世界杯预选赛。意大利人通常需要一些时间才能很好的进入状态，通常，他们在较长时间后的比赛中打得更好，但这是一种特殊情况，他们需要尽快适应资格赛的决赛。因为我预计意大利人会在第 60 分钟之前领先，对手需要打开空间，这将为快前锋因西涅、贝拉迪和因莫比莱留下空间。如果主队赢了，他们将遇到更强大的对手（葡萄牙或土耳其），所以不要指望5-0这样的大比分，但很可能会出现2-0、3-0的结果。