Defending champions Inter Milan will begin their 2024/25 Serie A campaign with an away trip to Genoa on Saturday.
Inter Milan were a touch above the rest in the Italian top flight last season. They managed to secure the league title without much difficulty and will be eager to try and defend it this time around.
Simone Inzaghi’s men will start the 2024/25 season against Genoa at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris with the visitors hoping to start the season on a high after easily surviving the drop last season.
The visitors will be eager to finish inside the top half of the Serie A this time around. While they will begin their league campaign with a difficult outing against Inter Milan, they have already had a great start to the season.
After winning 2-1 against AS Monaco at the start of the month, they managed to take down Reggiana 1-0 in the first round of the Coppa Italia. It was a dominant performance from Genoa and they will be hoping for something similar when they host Inter.
On the other hand, Inter Milan were a dominant force last season, and they managed to secure their 20th league title without much difficulty. They only lost once on the road throughout the last season and will be hoping for a positive result when they start the season against Genoa.
Inzaghi’s men have not been at their best of late. They have not won any of their three friendlies played this month before the start of the season. The first match against Pisa ended 1-1, while they lost the second 2-0 to Al-Ittihad and are heading into the first match of the season on the back of a 1-1 draw against Chelsea.
Despite the recent results, Inter Milan will be the favourites, and it will be interesting to see how they line up. The Hard Tackle takes a closer look at both teams and tries to predict the tactics they could put to use.
Team News & Tactics
Genoa
The home team have been quite busy in the ongoing window, and they are expected to have a few new faces in goal. With Josep Martinez leaving the club, they will have a new number one in goal for this fixture with Pierluigi Gollini being the preferred choice.
Albert Gudmundsson was on fire last season, and his performances resulted in a lot of interest from across Europe. But he remains a part of the Genoa setup. However, Gudmundsson might not get to start in this fixture. Summer signing Vitinha could feature with Junior Messias up top.
Alan Matturro, Alessandro Marcandalli, and David Ankeye are the three players who are expected to be unavailable for this fixture. Genoa will go ahead with the 3-5-2 formation, with Pierluigi Gollini in goal.
The back three will be made up of Koni De Winter, Johan Vasquez and Mattia Bani. The trio will look to keep it tight at the back and will have the support of Stefano Sabelli and Aaron Martin, who will feature as wing-backs.
In the centre of the park, Milan Badelj and Morten Frendrup will line up alongside with Morten Thorsby. The trio will look to ensure that Inter Milan do not end up dominating the proceedings. In attack, Vitinha is expected to partner up with Junior Messias.
Probable Lineup (3-5-2): Gollini; De Winter, Bani, Vasquez; Sabelli, Frendrup, Badelj, Thorsby, Martin; Messias, Vitinha
Inter Milan
Inter Milan have been quite busy in the ongoing transfer window. They have added quite a few players to their ranks with Mehdi Taremi being their marquee signing. The Italian international had an exceptional start with five goals in three pre-season because. But he is currently out injured.
Another new signing, Piotr Zielinski, is unavailable because of injury and along with him Stefan de Vrij, Tajon Buchanan and Marko Arnautovic are also on the sidelines. The away side are expected to stick to the 3-5-2 formation, with Yann Sommer in goal. Benjamin Pavard and Alessandro Bastoni will line up with veteran Francesco Acerbi in the heart of the defence.
Denzel Dumfries and Federico Dimarco will be the wing-backs for the Italian champions. They will provide width to their attacks and cover to the central defenders. In the centre of the park, Nico Barella will take charge alongside Hakan Calhanoglu and Henrikh Mkhitaryan.
With a lot of experience in the midfield, they will look to control the tempo of the game. In attack, it will be the dependable partnership of Marcus Thuram and Lautaro Martinez.
Probable Lineup (3-5-2): Sommer; Pavard, Acerbi, Bastoni; Dumfries, Barella, Calhanoglu, Mkhitaryan, Dimarco; Thuram, Martinez
Key Stats
- Inter won their 20th league title last season, securing a second star on their famous black-and-blue jersey.
- Over the years, the Scudetto winners have won their first match in 12 out of their last 13 league seasons.
- Simone Inzaghi’s team only lost once on the road in the 2023/24 season.
- In the last 10 meetings between the two teams, Genoa could only manage to score two goals while they have conceded 28. They have been winless in those 10 top-flight meetings.
- The last time Genoa won against Inter Milan was back in 2018.
Player to Watch
Lautaro Martinez
The Argentine international was on fire last season for Inter. He finished the season with 27 goals and seven assists, 24 of those goals and six of those assists came in his 33 league outings. Their 26-year-old skipper played a massive part in their league win, and he will be looking to produce another stellar season this time around starting with the game against Genoa.
Prediction
Genoa 1-3 Inter Milan
Inter Milan have not been in the best of forms of late, and Genoa’s recent results suggest they are heading into this fixture high on confidence. But, since it is the first league game of the season, Inter won’t really be bothered about their performances in the friendlies so far.
While the home team will bring the confidence of their first win of the season in the Coppa Italia, they might still not have enough in their tanks to take down the defending champions. The Hard Tackle predicts a 3-1 win for Inter.