Switzerland vs Italy live stream, Sky Sports, Sunday 5 September, 7:45pm BST
Italy will be looking to avoid a potential banana skin when they face Switzerland on Sunday night.
The Azzurri missed out on the last World Cup and are desperate to ensure they book a place at Qatar 2022 as soon as possible. Their triumph at Euro 2020 showed that this a very different Italy side to the one led by Gian Piero Ventura which suffered the ignominy of missing out on Russia. Roberto Mancini has worked wonders with the four-time world champions, creating a coherent, attack-minded side that would not look out of a place at club level.
Italy have made a solid start to life in Group C, with three wins and a draw up to now. They did, however, suffer a small hiccup in their last outing on Thursday. Everything looked to be going to plan when Federico Chiesa scored the opening goal in the 16th minute, but Bulgaria equalised before half-time and escaped the Stadio Artemio Franchi with a point thanks to a dogged display after the break.
Mancini was disappointed by his side's inability to score that decisive second goal, but Italy's fate is still in their own hands. A trip to Switzerland represents the toughest test of the campaign, but the Azzurri brushed the same opponents aside a few months ago at the European Championship. A win here and Italy will be sitting pretty at the midway point of the process.
Switzerland are also in a decent position, though, having won each of their two games to date. If they were to avoid defeat by Italy and then win their two games in hand, it would be Murat Yakin's side who occupy top spot in the group.
Italy will be without Andrea Belotti, who was forced to withdraw from the squad with an injury. Giorgio Chiellini is expected to come back in for Francesco Acerbi at centre-back.
Switzerland will be without Granit Xhaka, who has tested positive for COVID-19 after deciding not to be vaccinated.
Kick-off is at 7:45pm BST and the game is being shown live on Sky Sports Football the UK.
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VPN guide
Use a VPN to watch Premier league football from outside your country
If you’re out of the country for a round of Premier League fixtures, then annoyingly your domestic on-demand services won’t work – the broadcaster knows where you are because of your IP address (boo!). You'll be blocked from watching it, which is not ideal if you’ve paid up for a subscription and still want to catch Steve Bruce’s extra-red face without resorting to illegal feeds you’ve found on Reddit.
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UK TV rights
How to watch Premier League live streams for UK subscribers
Sky Sports and BT Sport are the two main players once again, but Amazon also have a slice of the pie in 2021/22.
US TV rights
How to watch Premier League live streams for US subscribers
NBC Sports Group are the Premier League rights holders, with the Peacock Premium streaming platform showing even more than the 175 games it aired last season, with other matches split between NBCSN channel, CNBC and the over-the-air NBC broadcast channel. If you pick up a fuboTV subscription for the games not on Peacock Premium, you'll be able to watch every game.
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Canada TV rights
How to watch Premier League live streams for Canadian subscribers
DAZN subscribers can watch every single Premier League game in 2021/22 – and it gets better. After a one-month free trial, you'll only have to pay a rolling $20-a-month fee, or make it an annual subscription of $150.
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Australia TV rights
How to watch Premier League live streams for Australian subscribers
Optus Sport are offering every game of the Premier League season for just $14.99/month for non-subscribers, which you can get via a Fetch TV box and other friendly streaming devices.
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Spark Sport are serving up all 380 games – plus various highlights and magazine shows throughout the week, as well as the Champions League – for $24.99 a month, after a seven-day free trial.
It's also available via web browsers, Apple/Android devices, Google Chromecast and some Samsung TVs, and Apple TV and Smart TV compatibility new for this season.
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