| Defensive shake- up but Lippi sticking to three- man attack |
 Rome, September 8 - A revamped Italy will face Georgia in Wednesday's World Cup qualifier after injuries compounded the world champions' shaky 2-1 win in Cyprus Saturday.Liverpool left-back Andrea Dossena and Juventus centre-back Nicola Legrottaglie are tipped to come in for Marco Cassetti and Andrea Barzagli who struggled to stem the Cypriot assault after coming on for Fabio Grosso and Alessandro Gamberini, both injured in the opening minutes. Antonio Nocerino was called up in place of Gennaro Gattuso who broke his wrist in training Sunday but the Palermo midfielder may not start. Instead, coach Marcello Lippi is expected to field AS Roma's Alberto Aquilani in place of AC Milan playmaker Andrea Pirlo, one of several Azzurri who looked off the pace Saturday. The playmaker role would pass to Roma man Daniele De Rossi, with Aquilani on the left. Mauro Camoranesi, a standout against Cyprus along with goalie Gianlugi Buffon and two-goal hero Antonio Di Natale, is expected to take the other flank. Luca Toni may be left out after being pulled off at half-time Saturday. But Lippi appears set on sticking to a three-man attack, blaming the poor showing in Cyprus mainly on a fitness lag. ''We're always behind other countries at this stage of the year. We should seriously think about bringing the start of the season forward,'' he said. ''The problems in Cyprus were mainly due to fitness''. Alberto Gilardino, whose flick to Camoranesi played a part in Di Natale's winner, is expected to keep his place in the centre of the attack. Di Natale will be playing in front of his home crowd at Udine ten days after he bagged a double to sink Palermo in the Serie A opener. Juve's Vicenzo Iaquinta looks set to start on the other side with clubmate Alessandro Del Piero tipped to come on later if the scoreline doesn't budge. Georgia lost 2-1 to Giovanni Trapattoni's Ireland on Saturday in a match moved to the neutral venue of Mainz in Germany because of the crisis at home. Former Inter boss Hector Cuper admitted the domestic situation was preying on his players' minds but vowed: ''You'll see the pride of the Georgians''. Italy and Ireland are two points clear of Montenegro and Bulgaria, who drew 2-2 on Saturday. Italy face Bulgaria in Sofia on October 11 and host Montenegro in Lecce four days later in their last qualifier before March 28 and April 1 dates with Montenegro (away) and Ireland (home). photo: Lippi |
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