Roma forward Luca Toni has been dropped, as has Juventus’ Nicola Legrottaglie. Giuseppe Rossi of Villarreal is newly included. To be expected, Roma’s Daniele De Rossi has been picked for the squad despite missing out on the training programme last week due to the Coppa Italia final.

Here is the full squad list as confirmed by the FIGC.

Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Buffon, Morgan de Sanctis, Federico Marchetti, Salvatore Sirigu

Defenders: Fabio Cannavaro, Fabio Grosso, Giorgio Chiellini, Gianluca Zambrotta, Domenico Criscito, Christian Maggio, Salvatore Bocchetti, Mattia Cassani, Leonardi Bonucci

Midfielders: Gennaro Gattuso, Andrea Pirlo, Mauro Camoranesi, Daniele De Rossi, Angelo Palombo, Simone Pepe, Riccardo Montolivo, Claudio Marchisio, Antonio Candreva,Andrea Cossu

Forwards: Alberto Gilardino, Vincenzo Iaquinta, Antonio Di Natale, Fabio Quagliarella, Giuseppe Rossi, Marco Borriello, Giampaolo Pazzini

The current holders of the World Cup, Italy are fairly long odds at 15.00 to retain the World Cup in South Africa. A host of other nations including Holland (13.00), Germany (13.00), and England (7.00) are shorter odds than the Italians……………..

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Spain 4/1
Brazil 9/2
England 7/1
Argentina 7/1
Netherland 10/1
Germany 12/1
Italy 14/1
France 18/1
Ivory Coast 25/1
Portugal 25/1
Serbia 50/1
Chile 50/1
Ghana 66/1
Paraguay 66/1
USA 66/1
Cameroon 80/1
Denmark 80/1
Nigeria 80/1
Mexico 80/1
South Africa 100/1
Uruguay 100/1
Australia 100/1
Switzerland 150/1
Greece 150/1
Slovenia 200/1
Japan 200/1
Slovakia 200/1
South Korea 250/1
Algeria 250/1
Honduras 300/1
North Korea 500/1

Fulham’s run has been a massive surprise but there is no doubting the quality of the teams they have despatched- Shahtar Donetsk, Juventus, Wolfsburg and Hamburg in the knockout roundsm plus Roma in the group stages.

Atlético are another quality outfit to get past, despite their mediocre league form. The team from the capital were fourth last season and expected to make a bold challenge in the Champions League but it all went wrong for them.

The Europa League run has saved their campaign. Although they have lived dangerously at times, there is no doubting the attacking talent they can deploy with Diego Forlan, Sergio Aguero, Jose Reyes and Simao to call on.

Tactical Fulham Pose Threat

Fulham have made their way by being tactically aware, compact as a team and highly disciplined- that isn’t going to change for the final because Atlético present a real danger on the counter-attack.

Roy Hodgson is under no pressure to make the running in the game and will be quite happy to allow Atletico to come forward. However, the ‘Rojiblancos’ coach, Quique Sanches Flores, has also been cagey in this competition. Twice his team progressed by securing a 0-0 draw at home after scoring in the away leg.

This fixture has the makings of a ‘traditional’ European Final where the two sides feel each other out and search for an opening. Fulham will be desperate to have Bobby Zamora leading the line as the Englishman has kept defences occupied almost single-handedly in Europe.

Hodgson will surely stick to his 4-5-1 formation asking Zoltan Gera and Damian Duff (if fit) to get close to Zamora. The Cottagers desperately need Zamora and Duff to be available and in good health if they are to list the trophy.

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United beat Stoke City 4-0 in their last game but once Wigan had a man sent off and Chelsea scored a second from the spot, the final day turned into a romp.

In the process Chelsea’s tally of goals for the Premier League campaign reached an astonishing 103-the highest by a top flight side since way back in the 1960s. As well as the eight in the last game, the Blues hammered seven no less than three times.

The goals tally is significant but the statistic that stood out is that Chelsea won all their matches against the other members of the ‘Big 4. The sevens and eights caught the eye but the victories at Old Trafford, the Emirates Stadium and Anfield were the bedrock of their third title in six seasons.

On the last day, Didier Drogba slotted in a second half hat-trick which edged him past Wayne Rooney to be top scorer for the season. The Ivorian ended with 29 but it was Frank Lampard’s amazing 22 from midfield that really made the difference…………………………

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Ronaldo (2.75 to score first) claimed a hat-trick in a 4-1 win for los Blancos on Wednesday night – which keeps the pressure on Barcelona in the title race.

Both sides will be playing at 8pm on Saturday night with Madrid playing at home against Athletic Blibao – a side they lost to earlier in the season.
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Bilbao are chasing a place in next season’s Europa League as they currently sit in 8th place just two points behind Getafe in 6th position. However, they are on a dismal run of form and have not won in nearly a month.

Their away record is pretty poor too with only 4 wins on the road all season ………………………….

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It will come as great news to Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson entertain Stoke at Old Trafford  looking for a win that could see them pip Chelsea to the title – should the Blues fail to beat Wigan.

The United camp will be buoyed by Wigan’s unpredictability and will head into Sunday’s match knowing that they still have a real chance if the same Wigan side turn up that have beaten Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool this season.

The problem is, all of those victories over the perceived ‘Top Four’ teams have come at the JJB Stadium.

Wigan’s away form in 2010 has left a lot to be desired. In fact, it’s been woeful – avoiding defeat on just two occasions and picking up just four points.

Since the turn of the year, Wigan have managed a solitary draw at Sunderland and one away victory, which came in a 2-0 win at Wolves on January 16th.

However, any suggestion of having nothing to play for will be hotly disputed by Latics chairman Dave Whelan, who knows that a victory could see them leapfrog ……………………….
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An historic treble is well and truly on for Inter Milan this season and Wednesday night sees the acid test as they attempt to lift the first of a trio of titles they can win this season along with Serie A and the Champions League.

Inter have not been able to achieve the treble so far in their history and have won the Coppa Italia on only five occasions. The last time they won the cup was in the 2005-06 campaign when they beat Roma 4-2 on aggregate in the final.

Roma have won the Coppa Italia nine times and, alongside Juventus are the most successful side in the history of Serie A. This week the Giallorossi have a good chance of pushing themselves ahead of the Bianconeri by claiming the trophy for a 10th time.

Inter Milan will be without Brazilian defender Lucio through injury, whereas Wesley Sneijder and Pandev are also set to miss the final due to injuries they are yet to recover from.

John Arne Riise and Mirko Vucinic are currently struggling with minor injuries but they should be fit to play the final. Coach Claudio Ranieri will probably start Luca Toni on the bench whilst playing Francesco Totti as the lone striker…………………………….

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