Five talking points about Sweden vs Italy

Sweden host Italy in Stockholm on Friday night as the European heavyweights vie for a place at the 2018 World Cup.

The Azzurri are facing the prospect of missing out on the summer showpiece for the first time since 1958, while Sweden could suffer the ignominy of failing to qualify for their third consecutive finals.

Here, Press Association Sport looks at five talking points ahead of the first leg of this play-off.

Can Italy avenge the 'biscotto'?

At Euro 2004 Italy faced an anxious wait to see if group rivals Denmark and Sweden would avoid securing the one scoreline that would eliminate the Azzurri from the competition. The Scandinavian countries were angered by suggestions they would throw the game to progress together but, lo and behold, the match did finish 2-2 in Porto. This affair became known as 'il biscotto' - or the biscuit - in Italy, a slang term for an underhand arrangement in football and elsewhere in life. Sweden and the Danes have always denied indulging in such immoral tactics, but Italian fans remain embittered.

No Zlatan, no cry?

One crumb of comfort for an Italy squad who have underperformed in qualifying is the absence of Manchester United striker Zlatan...