Huge Derby d’Italia In Prospect
Fabrizio Andrea Bertani / Shutterstock.com
The 2017/18 Serie A title is still very much up for grabs as Juventus and Napoli battle it out at the top of the table. This week, current leaders Juventus face a difficult task as they travel to San Siro to take on Inter Milan in the Derby d’Italia.
Inter Milan start this match in fifth place, 1 point behind Roma and Lazio who are third and fourth respectively. Therefore, Inter Milan need to win this game to have a chance of getting back into the top four and the Champions League qualifying positions.
Juventus have one thing on their mind and that’s the Serie A title. They start the weekend 1 point clear of second place Napoli and know anything other than a win could see them drop down to second place by the end of the weekend.
Inter Milan come into this game on the back of a 2-1 win at Chievo Verona last weekend and they won their last two games in Serie A, having defeated Cagliari 4-0 at home in their previous match. They were both very important wins for Inter Milan, having been held to draws with AC Milan and Atalanta and tasted defeat at Torino.
At home, trends show Inter Milan have won four of their last five Serie A games and have not tasted defeat in their last eight at San Siro. However, four of those eight games have ended in draws and Inter Milan have dropped points against Lazio, Roma, Crotone and Napoli.
Defensively, Inter Milan have been sound in recent games and kept a clean sheet in each of their four on home soil, including a 0-0 draw with second place Napoli.
Juventus travel to Milan having lost 1-0 at home to Napoli last weekend and what could have been a game to potentially seal the title, has turned into a must-win match simply to keep a point clear of Maurizio Sarri’s team.
Max Allegri needs a big response from his players having lost to Napoli and dropped points in the 1-1 draw at Crotone. Trends show Juventus are unbeaten in their last eleven away league games but have drawn two of their last three against teams battling to avoid relegation to Serie B.
Having kept six straight clean sheets away from home in Serie A, Juventus have conceded 3 goals in their last two matches and Allegri will be keen to keep things tight in this game.
Team news and Inter Milan are without the injured Roberto Gagliardini, while Matias Vecino is doubtful and expected to start on the bench. Antonio Candreva should start on the right of midfield, with Mauro Icardi up-front.
Juventus will be missing injured central defender Giorgio Chiellini and he joins Mattia De Sciglio, Stefano Sturaro and Claudio Marchisio on the treatment table. Daniele Rugani and Medhi Benatia are expected to start in central defence with Douglas Costa and Paulo Dybala battling to keep their places in the starting XI.
The atmosphere is going to be electric at the San Siro for this game but the goal mouth excitement may be kept to a minimum. Juventus know the result is more important than the performance at this stage of the season and don’t be surprised to see them grind out a narrow one goal victory.
Home
Football 
Basketball
Hockey
American Football
Baseball
Rugby
Volleyball
Handball
Esoccer
