Pirlo confident ahead of England clash

Andrea Pirlo believes England are very predictable and lack the quality to upset Italy in Sunday’s Euro 2012 quarter-final.

The Juventus midfielder feels England have been unimpressive so far at the European Championship, and is confident Italy will exploit their weaknesses.

“People talk about England playing the Italian way, but that’s rubbish. Only Italy can play the Italian way. And we do not care for anyone who tries to impersonate us,” Pirlo told Sky Sports.

“Maybe they will adopt a different approach against us, but I doubt it because in some ways they are very predictable.

“I have seen some of England’s games in this tournament. They have been more practical than impressive, and we are confident of beating them.

“They have weaknesses that we can exploit, particularly in midfield. They are missing some key players and I think we will have the measure of them in that area.

“They also look very nervous at times in defence and, France aside, they have not had to play against too many big nations.”