England and Italy come face to face in an international friendly fixture at the Juventus Stadium in Turin.
After a very disappointing display in the 2014 World Cup, where they were unable to progress beyond the group stages, the Three Lions have been in fine form, recording consecutive wins in their last seven international fixtures.
This run of good form has resulted in England cementing their place at the top of their group in the 2016 Euro qualifiers, where they have managed to win five fixtures so far, scoring 15 and conceding only one goal.
Despite their good form of late, the Three Lions are yet to face a quality side and this clash against Italy on Tuesday will be their first real test following their premature exit from the 2014 World Cup.
England will also be facing the likes of Germany, France, Spain, Holland before the start of the 2016 European Championships. And Three Lions boss Roy Hodgson has highlighted the importance of these fixtures.
"Yes it would be important to beat a team like Italy but the real time for that will come when we are qualified. We'll have four or five games friendlies before the finals in France, and each of those will be played against top class opponents - teams on a par with Italy - Germany, France, Spain, Holland, the best."
With England losing four players – Danny Welbeck, James Milner, Raheem Sterling and Leighton Baines - to injuries, following their convincing 4-0 over Lithuania in a 2016 Euro qualifying fixture, Hodgson is facing some selection headaches ahead of his side's clash against Italy.
However, the former West Brom boss feels that this is an excellent opportunity for the other players to prove their worth.
"We don't get many chances, with qualifiers being as important, to get people a go and see what they can do," added the 67-year-old.
"In these friendly matches, it's a chance for the players to stake their claim. This group, young as they may be, is beginning to stamp their foot down and say they're regulars in this group.
"If you want to break into it and knock them off their perch, you have to play somewhere. Friendlies give you that chance."
Meanwhile, Italy will also be hoping to do well in this fixture against England, whom they managed to beat 2-1 in the 2014 World Cup.
The Azzurri, who were also not able to qualify for the knock-out stages of the 2014 World Cup, have been doing pretty well of late, recording five wins in their last seven fixtures.
Their performance against Bulgaria in their recent Euro 2016 qualifying fixture, however, was not that great as they narrowly avoided defeat after Eder managed to net a late equaliser in the 84th minute.
But Italy head coach Antonio Conte, who reportedly received death threats after Juventus midfielder Claudio Marchisio was ruled out for the remainder of the season with a cruciate ligament injury he sustained while training with the national side, says that his side are now focused on their friendly against England.
"Now we will focus on Tuesday's game against England," the former Juventus boss told Goal. "It is a prestigious friendly in which I want to test some of the new players who have joined the national team for the first time so it will be an important international test to verify if the players I called up deserve to stay in the national team."
Expected Line-ups:
Italy: Sirigu; Chiellini, Ranocchia, Bonucci; Candreva, Parolo, Verratti, Florenzi, Cerci; Pelle, Eder
England: Hart; Walker, Smalling, Jagielka, Bertrand; Carrick, Henderson, Barkley, Townsend, Walcott; Rooney
Where to Watch Live
The game is scheduled to begin at 8:45pm local time (12:15pm IST, 7:45pm BST, 2:45pm ET) start with no live coverage in India. However, the match will be broadcast internationally on RAI International
Viewers in the UK can catch the match live on ITV 1, with an option to live stream on ITV Player. Audience in the US can catch the live action on ESPN 3 and ESPN Deportes.
Middle East and North Africa viewers will be able to watch the match live on Bein Sports Arabia, with the option to live stream the match on Bein Sports Connect.
