Elland Road is set to host a vital clash with Italy and Canada both looking to avoid a second straight defeat in Pool D. Jacques Brunel's men suffered a 32-10 defeat to France while the North Americans were thrashed 50-7 by Six Nations champions Ireland.

Team news:

Italy make four changes with Martin Castrogiovanni dropped in favour of Lorenzo Cittadini.

Elsewhere, Michele Rizzo replaces Matias Aguero at tight-head while Gonzalo Garcia and Tommaso Benvenuto come in for Andrea Masi and Michele Campagnaro.

Canada welcome back Tyler Ardron with their captain missing the defeat by Ireland, while Jebb Sinclair partners Jamie Cudmore in the second row.

All-time leading points scorer James Pritchard - having initially missed out on a place in Canada's World cup squad - has come out of international retirement to replace Liam Underwood, who suffered a knee injury after coming off the bench against Ireland.

Italy

McLean, Sarto, Benvenuti, Garcia, Venditti, Allan, Gori, Vunisa, Minto, Zanni, Furno, Geldenhuys, Cittadini, Ghiraldini (captain), Rizzo.

Replacements: Giazzon, Aguero, Castrogiovanni, Fuser, Bergamasco, Palazzani, Canna, Campagnaro.

Canada

Evans, Mackenzie, Hearn, Braid, Van der Merwe, Hirayama, Mackenzie, Ardron (captain), Moonlight, Dala, Cudmore, Sinclair, Wooldridge, Barkwill, Buydens.

Replacements: Carpenter, Sears-Duru, Tiedemann, Olmstead, Gilmour, Mack, Trainor, Jones.

Key head-to-head:

The returning Ardron's battle with Sergio Parisse's replacement, Samuela Vunisa, could prove key with the contest at scrum time set to prove interesting with both sides so physical up front.

Italy's new centre pairing of Gonzalo Garcia and Tommaso Benvenuti will also be tested by Ciaran Hearn and Connor Braid in Canada's midfield.

Key stats:

*Canada have won two and lost five of their seven contests against Ireland, with Italy winning their last encounter 25-16 in Toronto in June 2012. Italy have won the last four, and haven't lost to Canada since November 2000.

*The only previous World Cup meeting between the two sides ended in a 19-14 victory for Italy in 2003 in Canberra.

*Italy are aiming to avoid a third straight defeat at the World Cup - their worst run at the tournament was a four-match losing streak between 1999 and 2003.

Odds:

Italy are 2/19 favourites with Unibet, but you can get odds of 11/8 if you fancy them to prevail with a -19.5 handicap.

Weather:

Elland Road is set to see a pleasant afternoon with sunny spells and only light winds, with temperatures of up to 15 degrees Celsius.

Prediction:

Discipline of the pack will be key for Italy, having conceded a staggering 19 penalties against France. Canada are ranked just three places behind Italy but with three games in just 11 days, they face a tough task here. It will no doubt be a highly-physical encounter but the Azzurri will have enough to win by at least 10 points - they simply can't afford another defeat if their hopes of reaching the quarterfinals are to stay alive.