Prediction: Inter vs Roma

17th September 2011

The two clubs had high hopes before the season started, but they haven’t had the start they expected and now desperately need a win in this clash to return to the right track. Having lost their first three games of the season, this is a must-win game for Inter, while Roma have a lot to prove in this match as well.

Inter were always going to have problems repeating the success they had achieved under Jose Mourinho, but nobody expected the Neroazzurri to drop so low. After making a visionary decision to appoint the Special One, Massimo Moratti made a couple of costly mistakes with Rafa Benitez and Leonardo, but it looks that Gian Piero Gasperini will prove to be the worst of them all. The former Genoa coach has created a lot of controversy by changing what looked to be an ideal formation for Inter, while his experiments with Wesley Sneijder almost saw the Dutchman leave the club in the summer transfer window. The Neroazzurri have shown some improvement in the Champions League clash against Trabzonspor, mainly because Moratti had convinced Gasperini to revert to four-man back line, but things still don’t look too promising. Recent reports suggest that Sneijder will finally be allowed to start just behind Forlan and Milito and that should bring a considerable improvement in the scoring department.

Roma fans, too, were full of hopes this summer, after the club chiefs brought Luis Enrique as well as several extremely talented players, but things have not gone as planned. The new boss not only failed to lead Roma into the Europa League group stages, but he also managed to upset the club icon Francesco Totti, which looks to be a certain road towards the swift exit. Home defeat to Cagliari in their opening Serie A game did nothing to improve the poor atmosphere in the squad, meaning that Roma now have no choice but to try and win this game if they want to avoid the wrath of the fans. Luis Enrique was not satisfied with the attacking performance of Pablo Osvaldo and Bojan Krkic against Cagliari and is likely to replace them with Marco Borriello and Fabio Borini, whereas Marco Casseti is set to deputize for the suspended Jose Angel.

Conclusion

Both sides are in very difficult position and are playing well below their potential, although a derby win in a game like this can do wonders to restore the lost confidence. That is exactly why I believe that both Inter and Roma will give their best to win at Meazza, with both teams to score looking like a good option here.

Verdict: Both teams to score

Best Odds: 4/5

Bookmaker: 888Sport