Despite the absence of Cristiano Ronaldo, Al Hain-Cole expects goals at both ends in an exciting clash between Mancini's men and the Selecao in Lisbon
Portugal will be aiming to get their UEFA Nations League campaign off to a winning start when they welcome Italy to Lisbon on Monday.
Fernando Santos’ team drew 1-1 with Croatia in a friendly match last week, their first fixture since losing against Uruguay in the World Cup last 16.
Having run out 1-0 winners when the sides last met three years ago, they are 11/8 (2.38) favourites with bet365 to come out on top once again at the Estadio da Luz.
The Azzurri were held to a 1-1 draw at home to Poland in their opening Nations League clash on Friday, but are priced at 5/2 (3.50) to bounce back with an important victory here.
Just one of the last 14 encounters between this pair has resulted in a draw, although you can get odds of 21/10 (3.10) on them cancelling each other out in this one.
Cristiano Ronaldo is a headline omission from the Selecao squad as he concentrates on settling in at Juventus, with a number of other big names missing as part of a post-World Cup shake-up.
After an anonymous display against Poland, Mario Balotelli could be dropped to the bench in favour of Andrea Belotti or Ciro Immobile.
Despite Ronaldo’s absence, the home team should be feeling confident of hitting the back of the net against a visiting defence that has kept just one clean sheet in the last eight fixtures.
However, Roberto Mancini’s side will also back themselves to get on target, having done so in each of their last five – including testing matches against England, France and the Netherlands.
All in all, odds of 11/10 (2.10) appear generous on both teams scoring for Italy’s sixth match in a row, as well as a fifth in six for Portugal.
Odds correct at the time of writing. Please gamble responsibly.