Verdict: Away win
Best odds: 3/1
Bookmaker: Unibet
Inter Milan are set to play host to Juventus is a clash of giants in Italian football at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, also known as San Siro, on Sunday evening. It’ll be a match within round 27 of the Serie A campaign, and a very important one in a competitive sense with points badly needed by each side.
Interestingly enough, Inter and Juventus will also meet in the semifinals of the Coppa Italia over two legs next month.
Inter Milan
Inter are currently in second place with 50 points, and the race for the Scudetto is all but lost already with Napoli leading the way by 18. They may not need to look upwards anymore, but below, the race for the top four spots and the Champions League qualification they warrant is boiling at the moment, with five teams currently in the running for the remaining three spots. Lazio, who face city rivals AS Roma on Sunday, are directly below with a tally of 49, followed by Inter’s city rivals AC Milan on 48, Roma themselves with 47, and Atalanta, who have already played their 27th match, with 45.
Quite apart from that, Inter are still involved in the Champions League this term, having edged past FC Porto in the round of 16, they’ve been drawn to face Benfica in the quarterfinals. The avoidance of teams like Manchester City, Real Madrid, Chelsea, Napoli or Bayern Munich will have given them a decent chance of making it one step further, though Benfica certainly aren’t to be underestimated. Both legs against the Portuguese side are set to take place between the two legs of the Coppa clash with Juventus.
As for Inter’s recent form, it hasn’t exactly been consistent. Their last six matches in all competitions include a 3-1 win at home over Udinese, a 1-0 win at home in the first leg against Porto, a 1-0 defeat away to Bologna, a 2-0 win at home over Lecce, a 2-1 defeat away to Spezia, and a 0-0 draw in the second leg against Porto.
Team News
Coach Simone Inzaghi currently has problems with his back line. Defenders Milan Skriniar (recurring back problem) and Alessandro Bastoni (muscle) are out.
Romelu Lukaku is unlikely to start upfront, after club CEO Giuseppe Marotta said the Belgian striker would return to Chelsea at the end of the season.
With Andre Onana in goal, Stefan de Vrij and Francesco Acerbi as the likeliest options in the heart of defence alongside Matteo Darmian. Denzel Dumfries and Federico Dimarco should flank the midfield trio of Nicolo Barella, Hakan Calhanoglu and Henrikh Mkhitaryan. Given Lukaku’s current situation, Edin Dzeko is the man likely to start alongside Lautaro Martinez in attack.
Juventus
The 15-point deduction, the consequence of alleged financial offences committed by some of Juventus’ ex chiefs, that severely damaged the team’s efforts in the Serie A this season obviously needs to be pointed out first. Every ounce of energy has since been directed at getting as close to they were in the table before it happened as possible, and all things considered, they’ve done very well.
At the moment, the Bianconeri sit in seventh place with 38 points, extremely unlikely to make the top four with the 10-point deficit representing a huge hurdle, but they will want to stay as close as possible with the hope, a far more realistic one, of overtaking one or both teams that end up losing that fierce race in the end, and booking a place in one of the lesser European competitions. They still need to be wary of the teams below, however, with Torino (eighth, 37 points) and Bologna (ninth, 36) probably thinking along the same lines.
As for Europe this term, the Old Lady finished third in their Champions League group, above only Maccabi Haifa, and while Benfica and Paris Saint-Germain proceeded into the round of 16, they were forced to go through the knockout stage play-offs of the Europa League at the expense of Nantes, and later they beat SC Freiburg in the round of 16. Now they await the clash against Sporting Lisbon in the quarterfinals, set to take place between the two legs of the Coppa battle against Inter.
Massimiliano Allegri’s side have shown a much more consistent form in recent matches, winning five of their last six matches in all competitions. The run includes a second-leg 0-3 win away to Nantes, a 4-2 win at home over city rivals Torino, a 1-0 defeat away to AS Roma, a 1-0 win at home over Freiburg, a 4-2 win at home over Sampdoria, and a 0-2 win away to Freiburg on Thursday.
Team News
Midfielder Paul Pogba and defender Alex Sandro are absent through thigh problems. Forwards Arkadiusz Milik and Federico Chiesa have returned to team training, but it’s still too early for either to play a full game, so they will probably remain on the bench.
Wojciech Szczesny will be in goal, with Danilo, Gleison Bremer and Daniele Rugani at the back. Manuel Locatelli and Adrien Rabiot should be joined by Nicolo Fagioli in the middle of the park, while Filip Kostic and Juan Cuadrado cover the flanks. Angel Di Maria is expected to support striker Dusan Vlahovic upfront.
Concusion
Despite their recent form wavering somewhat, shorter odds are being placed on Inter winning this match. However, there is a feeling that it may have come as a byproduct of the point deduction, which obviously distorts the picture about the quality of Juventus right now. It may well pay off to play against the odds this time.
Verdict: Away win
Best odds: 3/1
Bookmaker: Unibet
- Soccer News Like
- Be the first of your friends!
