Reigning champions Inter Milan kick off their Serie A title defence against Genoa at the San Siro on Saturday.
Inter ended Juventus’ nine-year domination of Italian football last term, losing just three games on their way to finishing 12 points clear at the top.
However, the defending champs have lost a host of key players – and their manager – since the famous scudetto win.
Following Antonio Conte’s departure, Romelu Lukaku, Achraf Hakimi and Matteo Politano are among the ten first-team players to have left the club on a permanent basis this summer.
That said, Inter have made a promising start to life under new head coach Simone Inzaghi – winning each of their five pre-season friendlies.
After beating the likes of Crotone and Parma, Inter beat Dynamo Kiev 3-0 last time out, with new signing Edin Dzeko getting on the scoresheet.
Remarkably, Inter have now lost just one of their previous 24 matches in all competitions and head into Saturday’s clash on the back of four straight pre-season clean sheets.
Even without Lukaku – who bagged 30 goals and teen assists last term – Inter shouldn’t struggle to overcome Genoa.
Davide Ballardini’s side finished eleventh in the previous campaign, ending up a whopping 49 points behind Inter.
Genoa only managed to win ten of their 38 Serie A games last season, recording 12 draws and 16 losses along the way.
Genoa’s 2021/22 campaign has already begun, with Ballardini’s men beating Perugia 3-2 in the first round of the Coppa Italia.
They came from 2-0 down to claim the victory last Friday, racking up 25 shots – eight of which were on target.
Including pre-season friendlies, Genoa haven’t drawn any of their previous nine games in all competitions.
Head-to-head: Inter head into Saturday’s clash on a run of six straight Serie A wins over Genoa, producing an aggregate scoreline of 21-0.
Inter did the double of Genoa last season, winning 2-0 away from home before claiming a 3-0 victory in Milan.
Team news: Christian Eriksen’s future at Inter remains unclear after the Danish midfielder’s cardiac arrest at Euro 2020.
Inter also look set to be without injured trio Lautaro Martinez, Roberto Gagliardini and Valentino Lozaro on Saturday.
Genoa have no fresh injury concerns heading into the new campaign. Veteran striker Goran Pandev has reversed his retirement decision and will play another season.
Although it has been an off-season of change for Inter, the reigning champions are expected to kick off their title defence with an easy victory.
Forebet predicts that Inter will score over 2.5 goals and keep a clean sheet en route to dispatching Genoa.
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