Inter Milan v Juventus – Preview, Predictions and Best Bets

Inter Milan welcomes Juventus to the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza on Wednesday night in the Coppa Italia semi-final second leg. The first leg finished 1-1 three weeks ago. This match sees the hosts in improving form whilst the Old Lady have had a poor recent streak, losing three league matches in succession.

Inter Milan Form

It’s been a great two weeks for Inter Milan, having been on a six-match winless run before that. That streak saw three losses and three draws with them failing to score in three of those matches. They’ve since gone to Portugal and beaten SL Benfica 2-0 in a match where they created five so-called ‘big chances’.

That was followed by an unjust 1-0 home loss to Monza despite having 25 shots and 2.07 xG produced. The Nerazzurri then made it to the UEFA Champions League semi-finals. They led 3-1 at home to Benfica (5-1 on aggregate) before conceding two late goals to draw 3-3. After a five-match winless run in Serie A, they won 3-0 at Empoli over the weekend with Romelu Lukaku scoring a brace.

Inter Milan Team News

Inter are without PSG-bound Milan Skriniar due to a back problem. Henrikh Mkhitaryan missed the weekend due to personal reasons and it’s not clear if he will return for this huge match. Coach Simone Inzaghi made nine changes for the Empoli match from the Benfica second leg.

Most of the rested players could return to the XI. It’s not clear whether veteran captain Samir Handanovic will start in goal or the more in-form Andre Onana. Up front, Romelu Lukaku’s scoring form could see him preferred to Edin Dzeko as Lautaro Martinez’s partner.

Inter Milan Motivation

For many weeks, Inter have turned their attention to the Champions League, to the detriment of their domestic form. Full attention can go on this match with their European semi-final a full two weeks away.

Inter need to play to win and home having earned a good 1-1 draw in the first leg.

Juventus Form

Juventus have lost their last three Serie A matches, albeit two of those losses came to the top two in the league. They have previously been on a streak of seven wins in eight league matches. After drawing the first leg 1-1 at home to Inter, they lost 2-1 at Lazio despite producing 1.88 xG and four ‘big chances’.

They progressed to the semi-finals of the Europa League, 2-1 on aggregate versus Sporting Lisbon. A 1-0 home victory was followed by a 1-1 draw in the return leg. Sandwiched between those clashes was a 1-0 loss in the league at Sassuolo where several players were rested. On Sunday, Juve lost 1-0 at home to Napoli in a match where they barely created anything.

Juventus Team News

The Old Lady made changes for the Napoli defeat, leaving all of Angel Di Maria, Federico Chiese and Dusan Vlahovic on the bench. All of them will return to the XI for this match for Max Allegri’s side. Moise Kean is injured in the attack.

At the back, both Bremer and Alex Sandro had full rests in the Napoli defeat and should come into a back four. Juventus played a back five on Sunday so that remains a viable setup too. Paul Pogba has returned from a season of injury woes but he is being slowly reintroduced in the form of substitute outings.

Juventus Motivation

Juve having their 15-point deduction overturned has seen them move to third in Serie A. They were therefore able to rest players over the weekend to have a fresh XI for this cup clash.

Coach Max Allegri has been prioritising cup competitions of late knowing that his side could be in the two cup finals in the coming weeks. They will do everything to progress in this match.

Key Stats

Inter have lost 1 of their last 6 matches (DDWLDW)

Inter have scored 8 goals in their last 4 matches

Juventus have lost their last 3 Serie A matches

Juve have scored just 6 goals in their last 8 matches

Juventus have lost 4 of their last 7 away matches (Serie A)

Verdict

This should be an intriguing match, with both sides resting plenty of starters over the weekend. We will see two fresh sides duke it out with Inter looking in better form than the Old Lady and scoring more goals. I see them progressing to the final.

Best Bet: Inter Milan to qualify at 1.54

Alternative Bet: Inter Milan win (90 minutes) at 2.00

Goalscorer Tip: Lukaku anytime scorer at 2.90

James O'Connor

James is a football analyst who writes about the tactics of the PSL and English Premier League. He holds the UEFA A coaching licence and has previously worked for several clubs in analysis roles.Twitter: https://twitter.com/footy_analysis