Scudetto favourites Inter Milan welcome Champions League-chasing Atalanta BC to San Siro on Wednesday night, looking to further build upon their nine-point advantage at the Serie A summit.
A chance to extend the lead at the top of the Serie A standings into double figures awaits Inter Milan as they host Atalanta at San Siro on Wednesday. The hosts lead the way in the standings after the weekend’s round of fixtures with 66 points as they appear set to march towards the title, while the visitors are fifth with 46 points. Both teams having played 25 matches.
The Nerazzurri are coming off a 4-0 thrashing of Lecce last weekend, with Lautaro Martinez scoring twice and Davide Frattesi and Stefan de Vrij adding goals. That was their tenth consecutive win across all competitions, a streak that included winning the Supercoppa Italiana last month and taking a 1-0 lead in their UEFA Champions League Round of 16 match against Atletico Madrid.
Atalanta, meanwhile, have picked up the second-most number of points from the last eight rounds in Serie A (20), which has pushed La Dea into the frame for a top-four finish. The visitors have been magnificent in recent months, and they begin the weekend sitting a point and a place below Bologna in fourth, but with a game in hand.
They come into this one on the back of being at San Siro as recently as Sunday evening, when they played out a 1-1 draw with AC Milan thanks to Teun Koopmeiners’ equalising penalty in the 42nd minute.
The two teams last met in November last year, when goals from Hakan Calhanoglu and Lautaro Martinez secured a 2-1 away victory for the Nerazzurri. The Hard Tackle takes a closer look at both squads and tries to predict the tactics they could put to use.
Team News & Tactics
Inter Milan
Inter Milan will have to make do without the services of attacker Marcus Thuram, who sustained an adductor injury on Tuesday, joining Francesco Acerbi (calf), Stefano Sensi (ankle), and Juan Cuadrado (achilles) on the sidelines, while Yann Sommer is doubtful with an illness that forced him to miss last weekend’s victory at Lecce.
If Sommer is deemed unable to feature, Emil Audero will once again deputise in between the sticks, while head coach Simone Inzaghi can recall both Benjamin Pavard and Alessandro Bastoni at the expense of Yann Aurel Bisseck and Carlos Augusto in the back-three alongside Stefan De Vrij.
Nicolo Barella will also be vying for a recall in the middle of the park in place of Kristjan Asllani, while Alexis Sanchez could get the go-ahead over Marko Arnautovic to start upfront. Lautaro Martinez is the division’s leading goal scorer with 22 goals to his name and will surely be ready to lead his team upfront on Wednesday night.
Probable Lineup (3-5-2): Audero; Pavard, De Vrij, Bastoni; Dumfries, Frattesi, Barella, Mkhitaryan, Dimarco; Sanchez, Martinez
Atalanta BC
While veteran defender Jose Luis Palomino may have recovered from a recent ankle injury, he will have to settle for a spot on the bench here. There are no fresh injuries or suspensions for La Dea this weekend. So, the visitors could name an unchanged XI as they travel to San Siro for the second time in a week or so.
Milan loanee Charles De Ketelaere has made a scintillating start to 2024, and the Belgian will aim to grow his tallies of six goals and six assists since arriving at Atalanta on loan.
Another of La Dea’s attacking threats, Teun Koopmeiners, has scored eight of his ten goals on the road this term and reached double figures for the second successive campaign last time out. The visitors may also have Ademola Lookman back in their fearsome front line from the outset following his journey to the Africa Nations Cup final with Nigeria.
Probable Lineup (3-4-1-2): Carnesecchi; Scalvini, Djimsiti, Kolasinac; Zappacosta, De Roon, Ederson, Ruggeri; Koopmeiners; Lookman, De Ketelaere
Key Stats
- Inter are unbeaten in 10 clashes with Atalanta, including a 2-1 win in the reverse fixture.
- Atalanta have failed to win any of their previous 10 straight away fixtures against Inter Milan, a run that dates all the way back to April 2013.
- Inter Milan have won each of their last 10 games in all competitions.
- The visitors have yet to win at a top-half outfit in Serie A (D2 L4).
- La Dea have yet to lose this year, winning eight of 10 games across all competitions.
Player to Watch
Lautaro Martinez
Inter Milan are lucky to have a talisman in Lautaro Martinez, who can make a real difference in games for his side. The Argentine hit his 100th Serie A goal at the weekend, with a brace against Lecce taking him to 22 goals in 22 appearances in the league this term. He has scored nine in his last nine in the league, so back him to fire Inter to another win here.
Prediction
Inter Milan 2-1 Atalanta
Inter are strolling towards a 20th Scudetto, and they are doing so in comprehensively impressive and dominant fashion, sweeping aside all comers and potentially setting themselves up for success in Europe as well.
Atalanta are one of the most in-form teams in the Italian top-flight at the moment. But the hosts are simply on an entirely different stratosphere in terms of their consistency and attacking impetus, which is difficult to match.