Italy will attempt to defend their European Championships crown this summer, starting by successfully negotiating through a tough Group B alongside Albania, Spain and Italy.
In 2021, the Azzurri won the delayed Euro 2020 Championships by defeating England in the final, and although they have a lot of key players missing from this tournament three years later, they are still a formidable force.
They finished second in Group A qualifying to reach the Euros, while Albania impressively finished top of Group E ahead of Czechia, Poland, Moldova and the Faroe Islands.
Italy current form
Italy's four most recent friendlies have seen them win four against Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ecuador and Venezuela, while the drew 0-0 against Turkey at the start of June.
Albania current form
They only lost one match in the group stage qualifying and that was against Poland away.
In their recent friendlies, they beat Azerbaijan, Liechtenstein and Chile, though they lost to Sweden.
Italy vs Albania Team News
Luciano Spalletti is missing a number of key players for this tournament due to injury including Francesco Acerbi, Giorgio Scalvini, Domenico Berardi, Nicolo Zaniolo and Destiny Udogie.
Sandro Tonali remains suspended on a gambling ban.
David Frattesi, Nicolo Barella and Nicolo Fagioli have all had minor muscle issues heading into this game but should be available to Spalletti.
As for Albania, Sokol Cikalleshi announced his retirement from international football after not being named in Sylvinho's squad, so Chelsea's Armando Broja will lead the line despite playing little football at club level this season.
Berat Djimsiti, Kristjan Aslanni, Nedim Bajrami and Marash Kumbulla all ply their trade in Italy.
Key player - Italy
With plenty of key players missing, there will be a lot of pressure on Nicolo Barella in the engine room for Italy. Nobody set up more goals in qualifying for the Azzurri than the Inter man.
Key player - Albania
Nedim Bajrami scored three goals in qualifying including a key equaliser against the Czech Republic.
Scoreline Prediction
Albania have proved themselves a threat over the last year or so, but Italy need to win this game as Croatia and Spain will pose a bigger threat to their qualification than their opponents on Saturday.
FAQs
What was the score the last time Italy played Albania? In November of 2022, Italy defeated Albania 3-1 away in an international friendly.
What time does the match kick-off? The game commences at 2000 GMT.
Italy 
Albania 
