Italy U21s v Republic of Ireland U21s: All you need to know

EUROPEAN UNDER-21 QUALIFIERS, GROUP F

Italy v The Republic of Ireland, Ascoli, 4.30pm

TELEVISION

Live coverage of all the build-up and match action from the Stadio Del Duca from 4pm on RTÉ2. Streaming live online on RTÉ Player. Joanne Cantwell will be joined in studio by Richie Sadlier.

ONLINE

We'll have a live match tracker on rte.ie/sport, the RTÉ News app, as well as updates and goals on RTÉ Soccer Twitter and RTÉ Sport Facebook.

WEATHER

A warm and sunny day is forecast for Tuesday in Ascoli with almost no wind and temperatures at around 25C come kick-off time.

IRELAND CAN SECURE TOP SPOT

Jim Crawford's Republic of Ireland are 90 minutes away for securing their place at the European Under-21s Championship finals for the first time.

Ireland take on Italy in Ascoli knowing that a win would see them finish top of Group F and with that, claim their spot in next year’s European Under-21 Championship in Romania and Georgia.

Crawford’s side are already guaranteed a play-off place following last week’s 1-1 draw between Italy and Sweden, which meant that Ireland could not be overtaken by the Swedes in second place.

A win or a draw will be enough for Italy to take the automatic qualifying place, who lead Ireland by two points at the top of the table. For Ireland only a win will do but with their job clear and much of the pressure on Italy, this could almost be considered a free hit for the Boys in Green.

Italy got the better of Ireland in the reverse fixture, winning 2-0 in Tallaght in November, but as midfielder Conor Coventry explains, the hosts have already let one chance to secure top spot slip through their fingers against Sweden and he’s hoping to put them under real pressure.

Coventry said: "They probably feel a little bit hard done