On Sunday, 17th March, as part of the 29th round of the Italian Serie A, "Inter" will host "Napoli" on their home turf. The Scudetto holders from last season were booted off the 1/8 finals of the Champions League last week, just like the "Nerazzurri" – though the Milanese have managed to get 16 points ahead of their nearest pursuers in the domestic championship.
"Inter": Sommer; Bisseck, Acerbi, Bastoni; Darmian, Barella, Calhanoglu, Frattesi, Dimarco; Thuram, Martinez.
"Napoli": Meret; Di Lorenzo, Rrahmani, Jesus, Olivera; Anguissa, Lobotka, Traore; Politano, Osimhen, Kvaratskhelia.
This season, "Inter" is confidently marching towards the Scudetto, which would be their 20th in history. The Lombards sit at the top of Serie A table with a 16-point lead over their closest rivals. "Nerazzurri" have only lost one match in the championship, and this defeat came in late September – at home against "Sassuolo". Last weekend, Simone Inzaghi opted to give a number of key players a rest, but this didn't prevent the team from a 0-1 victory against "Bologna". In January, "Inter" scooped up their first trophy of the season by defeating... "Napoli" (1-0) in the Italian Super Cup.
However, the Milanese were met with a crushing disappointment this week: Atletico Madrid knocked them out of the 1/8 finals of the Champions League following a penalty shootout (3:2) – with the decisive strike missed by Lautaro Martinez. Yet, "Inter" managed to score 70 goals in the Serie, conceding only 13, making it the best goal difference amongst all clubs in the top five European leagues. The hosts are looking to secure their 11th consecutive Serie A victory tonight – only for the third time in their long history.
Having been crowned the champions of Italy last season following a 33-year wait, "Napoli" has been struggling in the current campaign. The team is too far from the top 4 and unlikely to compete in the Champions League next autumn, but they still stand a chance to finish in the European zone. Currently, the Sky Blues rank 7th in the Serie A table, trailing behind 6th place "Atalanta" by 3 points. Since Francesco Calcione took over the "Partenopei" in February, they haven't lost a championship match (2 wins and 2 draws). After victories against "Sassuolo" (1-6) and "Juventus" (2-1), Napoli drew 1-1 with "Torino" at home last weekend.
The guests, led by the Slovak, have been scoring on average 2.5 goals per game – one more than in the 12 championship matches under Walter Mazzarri. Last Tuesday, the southerners were defeated by "Barcelona" in the second leg of the Champions League 1/8 finals (3:1), and thus were eliminated from the tournament. Interestingly enough, "Napoli" has better performances on opponents' fields than at home this season – gathering 22 points from 14 away encounters (4th best score in the division).
"Napoli" heads to San Siro, where they have lost all of the last five encounters with "Inter" with an overall score of 8:2. The first-round game ended in a resounding 0-3 victory for "Nerazzurri".
Both teams came out of the Champions League in the middle of the week, but the hosts have every chance to get back to their winning streak tonight. Despite the fiasco in Madrid, the "Nerazzurri" are in great form and have already defeated "Napoli" twice this season. It's hard to see how the Sky Blues could claim any points at Giuseppe Meazza – let's bet on a home victory for the favourites.
"Inter" is eager to make up for the Champions League exit, so they will be gunning for the opponent's goal from the off. My bet is on "Nerazzurri's" individual goals total over 1.5.
"Inter" supersedes their opponent in class and will perform from a position of strength with the backing of home support. I'm betting on a win for the hosts handicap -1.5 in corners.
In the last two head-to-head matches involving these teams, a total of 13 yellow cards were shown – confidently betting on a total of greater than 4.5 bookings.
I'll place my stake on a precise score of 2:0 in favour of "Inter".
# | Team | P | W | D | L | GD | G | PTS | |
1 | Inter | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 8:2 | 7 | |
2 | Juventus | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 6:0 | 7 | |
3 | Torino | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5:3 | 7 | |
4 | Udinese | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4:2 | 7 | |
5 | Verona | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 5:3 | 6 | |
6 | Napoli | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5:4 | 6 | |
7 | Empoli | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3:2 | 5 | |
8 | Lazio | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6:5 | 4 | |
9 | Parma | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4:4 | 4 | |
10 | Genoa | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | -1 | 3:4 | 4 | |
11 | Fiorentina | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3:3 | 3 | |
12 | Atalanta | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | -1 | 5:6 | 3 | |
13 | Lecce | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | -5 | 1:6 | 3 | |
14 | AC Milan | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | -1 | 5:6 | 2 | |
15 | Monza | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | -1 | 2:3 | 2 | |
16 | AS Roma | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | -1 | 1:2 | 2 | |
17 | Cagliari | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | -1 | 1:2 | 2 | |
18 | Bologna | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | -3 | 2:5 | 2 | |
19 | Venezia | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | -3 | 1:4 | 1 | |
20 | Como | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | -4 | 1:5 | 1 | |
1 | Inter | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6:0 | 6 | |
2 | Udinese | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3:1 | 6 | |
3 | Napoli | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5:1 | 6 | |
4 | Juventus | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3:0 | 4 | |
5 | Lazio | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5:3 | 4 | |
6 | Parma | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3:2 | 4 | |
7 | Torino | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2:1 | 3 | |
8 | Verona | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3:3 | 3 | |
9 | Lecce | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1:4 | 3 | |
10 | Fiorentina | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2:2 | 2 | |
11 | Cagliari | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1:1 | 2 | |
12 | Bologna | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2:2 | 2 | |
13 | Empoli | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0:0 | 1 | |
14 | Genoa | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2:4 | 1 | |
15 | AC Milan | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2:2 | 1 | |
16 | Atalanta | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0:0 | 0 | |
17 | Monza | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0:1 | 0 | |
18 | AS Roma | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1:2 | 0 | |
19 | Venezia | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0:1 | 0 | |
20 | Como | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0:0 | 0 | |
1 | Torino | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3:2 | 4 | |
2 | Empoli | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3:2 | 4 | |
3 | Juventus | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3:0 | 3 | |
4 | Verona | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2:0 | 3 | |
5 | Genoa | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1:0 | 3 | |
6 | Atalanta | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5:6 | 3 | |
7 | Monza | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2:2 | 2 | |
8 | AS Roma | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0:0 | 2 | |
9 | Inter | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2:2 | 1 | |
10 | Udinese | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1:1 | 1 | |
11 | Fiorentina | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1:1 | 1 | |
12 | AC Milan | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3:4 | 1 | |
13 | Venezia | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1:3 | 1 | |
14 | Como | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1:5 | 1 | |
15 | Napoli | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0:3 | 0 | |
16 | Lazio | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1:2 | 0 | |
17 | Parma | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1:2 | 0 | |
18 | Lecce | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0:2 | 0 | |
19 | Cagliari | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0:1 | 0 | |
20 | Bologna | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0:3 | 0 |
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