JUVENTUS
vs
FC INTERNAZIONALE
Juventus Stadium, Turin
November 3rd 2012, 19:45 GMT kick-off
It’s the top of the table clash in Seria A this week as league leaders Juventus host second place Intermilan in what is sure to be a fiery encounter.
Match Setup:
Recent form:
Juventus: WWDWW
Inter Milan: WWWWW
Possible lineups:
Juventus: Buffon; Chiellini, Barzagli, Bonucci; Lichtsteiner, Marchisio , Pirlo, Asamoah, Vidal; Vucinic, Giovinco
Inter Milan: Handanovic; Ranocchia, Samuel, Silvestre; Zanetti, Guarin, Cambiasso, Gargano, Nagatomo; Cassano, Milito
Preview:
Antonio Conte’s men enter the game with a four point lead over the Nerazzurri and even a draw could mean that Juventus will reach an astounding 50 games without a defeat, however Inter have a good run of their own. The Nerazzuri’s are on eight match winning streak in all competitions, which would give them the confidence to face the Old lady at Juventus stadium.
The recent history suggests that Juve have an edge over Inter in the derby d’Italia having won the last three meetings with Inter. On the other hand Inter’s run of good form has brought them to the second place, the only time Inter had longer winning streaks came under Roberto Mancini in 2007-08 (13 matches) and 2006-07 (11).
Inter’s manager Stramaccioni beleives it will be an open game at Juventus and all the three points will be there for the taking if the players keep thier heads down and concentrate for the whold 90 minutes.
“We need to work game to game and that’s the right mentality to have. But we’re starting to feel more and more prepared for each game that comes along – and Saturday is just another game. Maybe I’m lucky that it’s in my character, but I will be able to stay totally cool. We always set out to win, because we are Inter, but we do realise we are playing against the champions of Italy.”
Analysis:
As far as the team news, it is expected that the Old Lady could put out the same team that pulled off a last-gasp win over Bologna midweek, with on-loan Arsenal striker Nicklas Bendtner set to start from the bench again.
Inter will look to go all out in attack with the in-form strikers Rodrigo Palacio and Diego Milito upfront, but will be without the injured Wesley Sneijder and Dejan Stankovic in midfield.
Expect Andrea Pirlo to pull the strings from the midfield for Juventus, the midfield maestro has been spectaular this season and with 3 goals to his name he is the joint top scorer for Juventus this season. It is important that Inter close down Pirlo’s waited long balls and without Sneijder and Stankovic in the midfield, Inter could easily lose the battle in the midfield if they losr their concentration. The big game players Mirko Vucinic and Sebastian Giovinco will be hoping to give a hard time for the Nerazzuri defenders and with Quagliarella and Vidal who are just returning to form it could be a long night for Inter.
Antonio Cassano will be Inter’s main man, with five goals and three assists, the forward will be the main man for Nerazzuri who can cause a potential damage to the thick line of Juve defense.
Watchout for the two Italians Pirlo and Cassano in the gameStrammacioni has been the man for Inter, he has done a wonderfull job in reshaping Inter and his tactics has been a success story and last season’s dismal displays have been shoved apart already. Strammacioni is expected to deploy a three man defense starting Walter Samuels, Andrea Ranocchia and Matias Silvestre. Looking the teams on paper, itseems to be a match for all the 11 men and the team which wins the battle in the midfield could be the team to take home the three points.
Our Prediction:
Juventus 2-2 Inter:
The game will be so intense that a winner is very dificult to predict and a draw seems to be a possible outcome.