Serie A’s Top Two Set for Sunday Showdown in Milan

Inter Milan vs Juventus

As Juventus prepared to face Empoli in Serie A last weekend, manager Max Allegri was asked whether his team, or Inter Milan, were the Jannik Sinner of Italian football.

“We are a younger squad, so we must be Sinner and they must be [Novak] Djokovic,” he replied, casting the Nerazzurri as the once all-conquering but now defeated Australian Open semi-finalist.

“But I don’t know, they might take that badly. They’re very touchy.”

If the Derby d’Italia needed extra spice, and it didn’t, it now has.

Talking Points

Of course, Inter players were supposed to have heard the comment.

But if it was supposed to play on their minds before last weekend’s fixtures, it didn’t quite work out like that.

Inter won a tricky match at Fiorentina and Juve were held at home by lowly Empoli.

All that means is the onus is now even more on Allegri’s side to show they can deliver Serie A highlights and stay title contenders for the second half of the campaign.

They’ve had some welcome news this week with Federico Chiesa and Adrien Rabiot expected to recover from injury in time.

Chiesa hasn’t started for Juventus since the Coppa Italia win over Salernitana at the start of January, dealing with a knee problem, whilst Rabiot has missed the club’s last three games with thigh and calf niggles.

Mattia De Sciglio remains absent following the cruciate ligament he suffered last year.

Leading the line for the leaders will be Lautaro Martinez whose winner in Florence on Sunday night means he now has 19 goals in as many Serie A games this term.

He may have a new striker partner soon, although not in time for this weekend. It’s been reported in recent days that the club has agreed personal terms with Mehdi Taremi of FC Porto.

The 31-year-old Iranian striker’s contract with the Portuguese club expires at the end of this season and he’s not planning to put to pen to paper on a new deal. He’s done well since his arrival in 2020, scoring 86 goals and providing 53 assists in 171 games.

That can wait though. For now, the focus is on being crowned top dogs in Italy and Inter have the edge.

This will also be a match-up between the best defences in the league.

Inter’s Yann Sommer has conceded 10 times in 21 games, while Juventus have conceded just three times more in 22 outings. Sommer and Wojciech Szczesny are also the goalkeepers with the most clean sheets so far: 13 for the Switzerland international and 11 for the Pole.

History

Juventus have had a distinct edge historically.

The ‘old lady’ of Turin have 92 successes to their name compared to 56 Inter triumphs and a further 54 draws in all competitions.

The most recent encounter was a 1-1 draw in November when Dusan Vlahovic’s opener was quickly cancelled out by the prolific Martinez.

Both league matches last season went the way of Juve who ran out 2-0 winners at home, courtesy of second-half goals from Rabiot and Nicolo Fagioli, before edging victory in the San Siro with a solitary Filip Kostic strike midway through the first half.

It was honours even in the first leg of the Coppa d’Italia semi-final last term as Juan Cuadrado struck the opener seven minutes from the end before a handball from Gleison Bremer in stoppage time led to a chaotic climax.

Romelu Lukaku equalised with the last kick of the game and was then sent off as he celebrated provocatively in front of the home fans, (the ban later overturned).

The drama continued after the full-time whistle had blown as Cuadrado and Inter captain Samir Handanovic also received red cards as scuffles broke out between the two sets of players.

Inter edged the second leg in April through a solitary Federico Dimarco goal to earn only their second victory over Juve in their past 15 meetings.

Betting Tip

Inter have the edge in the standings and the edge with the SBOTOP Serie A betting odds.

They can be backed 1X2 @ 1.88 compared to Juve @ 3.96. The draw is on offer @ 3.16.

With Asian Handicap betting, Inter are priced -0.75 @ 2.16 with Juve +0.50 @ 2.03.

Another 1-1 draw will pay out @ 6.40 with Correct Score while, if the visitors can repeat their efforts from the corresponding fixture last term and make the title race even more exciting, Correct Score 0-1 will be worth it @ 9.80.

Other bets to look at include total goals 0-1 @ 2.75, 2-3 @ 1.89 and 4-6 @ 4.08, as well as under 2.00 goals @ 2.21.

 

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