With Andrea Pirlo coming back to full fitness after a calf problem, Lippi may drop Juve midfielder Claudio Marchisio to accomodate the player.

A change in formation may also be required with midfielder Riccardo Montolivo in good form, so Italy may revert to 4-4-2 from a 4-4-3.

In the absence of the injured Buffon, Marchetti will again start in goal for Italy.

Slovakia manager Vladimir Weiss has no injury or suspension issues to contend with but is set to freshen up his side.

Slovakia only managed a single shot on target in their previous match, so attacking midfielder Miroslav Stoch could come in if he is fully recovered from his knee injury.

There could be a change at the back as well with West Brom’s Marek Cech coming in for the less experienced Kornel Salata.

KICK-OFF: THURSDAY JUNE 24th 15:00 GMT

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Cardozo has overcome an ankle problem and is likely to start ahead of Nelson Haedo.

Italy will be without midfielder Andrea Pirlo, who is certain to miss Italy’s opening two matches of the group stages.

Better news is that Daniele de Rossi has overcome a calf strain and Mauro Camoranesi has returned from a knee injury and both players are expected to start for Lippi’s side.

KICK-OFF: MONDAY JULY 14th 19:30 GMT

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ITALY PROVISIONAL SQUAD IN FULL

Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus), Morgan De Sanctis (Napoli), Federico Marchetti (Cagliari), Salvatore Sirigu (Palermo)

Defenders: Salvatore Bocchetti (Genoa), Leonardo Bonucci (Bari), Fabio Cannavaro (Juventus), Mattia Cassani (Palermo), Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus), Domenico Criscito (Genoa), Fabio Grosso (Juventus), Christian Maggio (Napoli), Gianluca Zambrotta (AC Milan)

Midfielders: Mauro Camoranesi (Juventus), Antonio Candreva (Juventus), Andrea Cossu (Cagliari), Daniele De Rossi (Roma), Gennaro Gattuso (AC Milan), Claudio Marchisio (Juventus), Riccardo Montolivo (Fiorentina), Angelo Palombo (Sampdoria), Simone Pepe (Udinese), Andrea Pirlo (AC Milan)

Forwards: Marco Borriello (AC Milan), Antonio Di Natale (Udinese), Alberto Gilardino (Fiorentina), Vincenzo Iaquinta (Juventus), Giampaolo Pazzini (Sampdoria), Fabio Quagliarella (Napoli), Giuseppe Rossi (Villarreal)

LATEST ITALY WORLD CUP ODDS AND BETS

ITALY TO WIN THE WORLD CUP : 15.0 at 888Sport – Click to bet

ITALY TO WIN GROUP F : 1.44 at Paddy Power – Click to bet

ITALY WORLD CUP BETTING TIPS

I have to confess, I didn’t tip Italy to win the 2006 World Cup (I went for Brazil) and I was surprised. Nevertheless, I’m not tipping them to win this one either.

While it is an old cliche to say that Italy start slowly in major competitions and get stronger as time goes by, time going by is actually Italy’s major problem.

A quick look at Italy’s squad reveals that the big players – Cannavaro, Buffon, Zambrotta and Pirlo to name but four – are all well over 30 and surely will be exposed by nimbler, younger opponents later on in the tournament.

Also, while Italy have never really relied on a single goalscorer to win matches for them, they are sorely lacking in quality in attack.  Cassano is, well, a character to say the least, Iaquinta has never proven up to the job and, of the other candidates, only Guissepi Rossi offers any kind of threat.

So, with an ageing backline and midfield and not much in the way of quality upfront, I think Italy could be undone as early as the second round, where potentially they face a Cameroon side eager to atone for a poor African Cup of Nations.

ITALY: BEST BETTING TIP

Italy to be eliminated in the Second Round.

Best Odds: 2.87 at Paddy Power – Click To Bet Or Open Account

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