Bulgaria vs. Italy, Euro 2016 qualifying: Time, TV schedule and live stream

Italy resume their Euro 2016 qualifying campaign away at Bulgaria on Saturday, with Antonio Conte’s side provisionally level on points with Croatia at the top of their group. The Azzurri won their three opening games, before being held at home to their fellow pacesetters in their last game. However, it certainly hasn’t been a wholly convincing campaign so far: they saw off minnows Azerbaijan and Malta by a single goal, and Bulgaria could pose some rather bigger problems in this match.

Bulgaria sit provisionally fourth in the qualification group, having not won since the opening round of fixtures in which they saw off Azerbaijan 2-1. Nevertheless, they only lost by one-goal margins against both Croatia and Norway, and have a strong enough squad to make picking up at least a point a realistic proposition. It certainly won’t be easy, but don’t count them out.

Key player - Marco Verratti (Italy)

Slowly but surely, young Italian playmaker Marco Verratti appears to be maturing into a very good footballer. Whereas previously his defensive weakness often undermined his attacking proficiency, at Paris Saint-Germain this season he has shown some impressive positional play. He’s likely to be a key cog in the Azzurri midfield for at least the next decade, and Bulgaria will have to man-mark him if they are to restrict his influence.

Key question - Do Italy have enough attacking quality?

The sad truth is that this is an Italy team that is dramatically weaker than those that have preceded it. The likes of Empoli midfielder Mirko Valdifiori, Palermo attacker Franco Vázquez and Sampdoria forward Éder may have performed very well for their clubs, but they’re realistically never going to cut it as world class footballers. In turning to them instead of domestically out-of-form, yet technically very proficient players like Mario Balotelli and Stephan El Shaarawy, Conte is taking a big risk. It could well backfire.

Match Date/Time Saturday, 9:45 p.m. local, 3:45 p.m. ET

Venue: Stadion Vasil Levski, Sofia, Bulgaria

TV: ESPN Deportes (U.S. - Spanish), Sportsnet One (Canada), Sky Sports Red Button (U.K.), BNT 1 (Bulgaria), RAI Uno (Italy)

Online: Watch ESPN (U.S.), Sportsnet World Now (Canada)