Juventus will welcome Inter Milan to the Allianz Stadium for the latest edition of Derby d’Italia on Sunday in what is a must-win for both Serie A giants.
One of Italy’s biggest, most historic, and most iconic games in the football calendar, Derby d’Italia, takes centre stage this weekend and is set to be a cracker of a game, albeit both sides are way off the Scudetto contention this campaign.
Juventus, for one, will be desperate for all three points as they seek redemption after being relegated to the UEFA Europa League after a meek 2-1 defeat at the hands of PSG in Champions League Group H. If it weren’t for their superior goal difference over fourth-place Maccabi Haifa, they would have been left with no European football to compete for post-Christmas.
It wouldn’t be a far-fetched statement to say they are in a real crisis, both on and off the pitch. Injuries to key players haven’t done Max Allegri’s side any favours. They are currently languishing in seventh place in the Serie A table with 22 points, 10 adrift of table-toppers Napoli already.
They have, though, recovered in recent weeks, coming off the back of three straight Serie A wins with the youth revolution leading the charge. It was 21-year-old Nicolò Fagioli’s first-ever Serie A goal after some good work from teenage sensation Samuel Iling-Junior that earned Juve their third league win in a row as they secured three points in Lecce despite numerous injury absences.
Inter Milan, like their opponents, have punched well below their weight in Serie A and are just two points and a place above the Turin giants. Things were looking very bleak for Simone Inzaghi after back-to-back losses to Udinese and AS Roma, and having to face a dominant Barcelona in the opening week of October.
However, they have performed admirably in the Champions League, progressing to the next round despite losing 2-0 to Bayern on the final matchday. In fact, the Bayern defeat is the only blemish in their past eight games across all competitions (W6, D1).
They also put in a dominant performance in front of their home fans against Sampdoria last time out, running out 3-0 victors, and will want to go into the World Cup break in the right kind of form by winning their last three matches in Serie A prior to the showpiece tournament.
The two Italian behemoths last faced each other earlier this year in the Coppa Italia final, which finished in a 4-2 victory for Inter Milan. Juventus were outplayed on the day and have a point to prove this weekend.
Team News & Tactics
Juventus
Juve have hit new lows after new lows this term, putting the club in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons. And while most of the damage has been self-inflicted and of their own doing, injuries have not been kind to Massimiliano Allegri’s side.
The Bianconeri’s Derby d’Italia preparation continues ahead of the match on Sunday evening 🔗👇
— JuventusFC (@juventusfcen) November 4, 2022
Mattia De Sciglio, Paul Pogba, Angel Di Maria, Manuel Locatelli, Gleison Bremer, Leandro Paredes, Weston McKennie, Moise Kean, and Dusan Vlahovic have all faced significant spells on the sidelines this season.
However, Allegri will have some key players back at his disposal for Sunday’s encounter with Inter, with the treatment room finally appearing to be alleviating somewhat. Di Maria and defender Bremer have already returned to training after being out with injuries for a few weeks.
Meanwhile, Vlahovic is likely to be fit for the game, while Federico Chiesa returned from a lengthy injury layoff to make a cameo appearance in Wednesday’s Champions League match against Paris Saint-Germain.
Allegri looks set to go ahead with a 3-5-2 formation and could make several personnel changes to the starting XI that started in midweek.
Szczesny is sure to start in goal, while the back three of Danilo, Leonardo Bonucci, and Bremer will look to keep the opposition shut. Manuel Locatelli looks set to resume his usual anchor role in the middle of the park, with youngster Fagioli and Adrien Rabiot slotting on either side of the Italian international to complete the midfield trio.
Vlahovic and Arkadiusz Milik will form the strike partnership for the hosts and will primarily feed off of the deliveries from the flanks. The Serbian may drop deep to connect play and create attacking sequences.
Most of these crosses will be supplied by the two wing-backs, with Juan Cuadrado and Filip Kostic will be given the freedom to bombard forward and put quality into the box. Di Maria and Samuel Iling-Junior could provide sparks off the bench.
Probable Lineup (3-5-2): Szczesny; Danilo, Bonucci, Bremer; Cuadrado, Fagioli, Locatelli, Rabiot, Kostic; Vlahovic, Milik
Inter Milan
Andre Onana is gradually replacing almost perennial number one Samir Handanovic in goal, with his ball distribution and sweeper-keeper attributes providing Inter with a new dimension both defensively and in an attacking sense.
Are we all looking forward to the weekend? 😄#FridayFeeling #ForzaInter pic.twitter.com/xICGQXOYV4
— Inter (@Inter_en) November 4, 2022
Simone Inzaghi’s side’s most susceptible area has been their shoddy, error-prone defence, which has conceded 17 goals, the most of the current top-six and a staggering ten more than their next opponent, Juventus. These are alarming numbers, and Milan Skriniar, Alessandro Bastoni, and Stefan de Vrij will all have to be on their toes in order to keep things quiet at the back against Juventus.
Federico Dimarco is expected to start over Robin Gosens despite the German wingback pushing for a start as he looks to make a good impression before the World Cup to be included in Hansi Flick’s side. Meanwhile, Denzel Dumfries will be an explosive attacking presence on the other flank.
Nicolo Barella, Hakan Calhanoglu, and Henrikh Mkhitaryan have been brilliant in the engine room, not only compensating for Marcelo Brozovic’s defensive absence but complementing each other very well, as seen in their Champions League run. Brozovic will be called up to the Nerazzurri squad for the trip to the Allianz Stadium on Sunday but is set to start the game on the bench.
Aside from that, Simone Inzaghi will start his usual starters in attack, with Lautaro Martinez partnering Edin Dzeko upfront. Romelu Lukaku, if deemed fit, can also feature as a second-half substitute.
Probable Lineup (3-5-2): Onana; Skriniar, Acerbi, Bastoni; Dumfries, Barella, Calhanoglu, Mkhitaryan, Dimarco; Martinez, Dzeko
Key Stats
- Sunday’s game will be the 246th meeting between Juventus and Inter Milan in Serie A. The Bianconeri hold the clear advantage, winning 110 games, with the Nerazzurri having 75 victories to their name (D60).
- However, the Nerazzurri went undefeated throughout their four meetings against Juventus in Coppa Italia and Serie A last season (W1 D3), including two stoppage-time victories.
- Juventus have kept a clean sheet in their last three Serie A matches.
- Juventus are unbeaten in 13 of their last 14 home matches against Inter across all competitions.
- The Bianconeri have lost four of their last seven games in all competitions.
Player to Watch
Nicolo Barella
While Lautaro Martinez has grabbed all the headlines, and rightly so, the Argentine is the top scorer for Inter this season, Nicolo Barella’s contributions this season have gone unnoticed, despite bagging five goals and as many assists already this season.
With goal-scoring and assisting becoming more of a feature in his game, the Italian has taken his game a step forward to becoming a complete box-to-box midfielder.
Earlier, he used to score only flukes from range but is now showing a good level of consistency in terms of getting on the end of high-quality scoring chances with sharp identical runs and has reaped the rewards, already surpassing his best-ever season goal tally to date. His ability to link up with his teammates, exploit open spaces, and pop up with goals could prove pivotal on the night.
Prediction
Juventus 2-2 Inter Milan
With both teams separated by just two points in the standings, and on respective winning streaks in the league as the two clubs head into Sunday’s clash, this has the makings of a high-scoring Derby d’Italia matchup.
Both sides face an uphill battle to haul back their respective title bids in 2023 and are likely to pace with the top-four race in Serie A in the coming months. The message from managers in both camps will be simple: Lose here, and forget about the Scudetto dreams.
Inter do have a slight edge, being one of the many teams to outperform Juventus in practically every attacking category, but they are suspect defensively. Picking a favourite based on their recent form is tricky, and an exciting draw appears to be on the cards this weekend.
