England captain Dylan Hartley is expecting an "arm wrestle" when they face Italy in Rome on Sunday.
Italy came within a wayward last-minute drop goal from captain Sergio Parrise of beating France in Paris last week, going down 23-21.
England scrapped to a 15-9 victory over Scotland at Murrayfield and Hartley expects a similar, forward-dominated battle in Rome.
"Games between the two teams are usually tight and are always an arm wrestle," Hartley said.
"Sergio Parisse is their captain and talisman, and a good bloke. He takes the game on by himself and he's someone we go after.
"They are proud team playing at home but we are confident going out there. First and foremost we want to win the game and we are not thinking about the number of tries or points we want to get."
Hartley says the victory over Scotland means they can travel confident of chalking up their second straight win under new coach Eddie Jones.
"Why shouldn't we be confident? We have the best players in England, great coaching set up, great head coach and we are a good team," he said.
"We should always be confident. We just need to get them on the same page and do the right things."
Former captain Chris Robshaw says England are aiming to improve from last week.
"It's about being clinical and kicking on from last week," he told Sky Sports News HQ. "We feel last week was a good result but there were areas we could improve on. We're looking to move up a gear. We know it is going to be tough going over there.
"Looking at them last week, it's going to be a tight game. It's going to be a physical encounter - they are playing extremely well.
"They are developing their game every year and improving every year so we are under no illusions."