Prediction: Inter Milan vs Juventus

Verdict: away win

Best odds: 3/1

Bookmaker:

Inter Milan set to host Juventus is a clash of Italian football giants at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, also known as the San Siro, on Sunday night. It will be a game as part of Matchday 27 of the Serie A campaign, and a very important game in a competitive sense with much-needed points for each side.

Interestingly, Inter and Juventus will also meet in the Coppa Italia semi-finals over two legs next month.

Inter are currently in second place with 50 points, and the race for the Scudetto is already almost lost with Napoli leading with 18 points. They may not need to look to the top anymore, but below the race for the top four spots and the Champions League qualification they deserve is in turmoil right now, with five teams currently in contention. vying for the remaining three places. Lazio, who face city rivals AS Roma on Sunday, are just below with a total of 49, followed by Inter rivals AC Milan with 48, Roma themselves with 47 , and Atalanta, who have already played their 27th game, with 45. < /p>

Regardless of that, Inter are still involved in the Champions League this season, after beating FC Porto in the round of 16, they were drawn to face Benfica in the quarter-finals. Avoiding teams like Manchester City, Real Madrid, Chelsea, Napoli or Bayern Munich will have given them a decent chance to go one step further, although Benfica are certainly not to be underestimated. The two matches against the Portuguese team should take place between the two matches of the Coppa clash with Juventus.

As for Inter's recent form, it hasn't been exactly consistent. Their last six matches in all competitions include a 3-1 home win over Udinese, a 1-0 home first-leg win over Porto, a 1-0 loss at Bologna, a 2-0 home win over Lecce , a 2-1 loss at Spezia and a 0-0 draw in the second leg against Porto.

Coach Simone Inzaghi is currently having trouble with his back line. Defenders Milan Skriniar (recurring back problem) and Alessandro Bastoni (muscle) are absent.

Romelu Lukaku is unlikely to start in attack, after club CEO Giuseppe Marotta said the Belgian striker would return to Chelsea at the end of the season.

With Andre Onana in goal, Stefan de Vrij and Francesco Acerbi as the most likely options in the heart of defense alongside Matteo Darmian. Denzel Dumfries and Federico Dimarco are expected to flank the midfield trio of Nicolo Barella, Hakan Calhanoglu and Henrikh Mkhitaryan. Given Lukaku's current situation, Edin Dzeko is the man likely to start alongside Lautaro Martinez in attack.

The 15-point deduction, a consequence of alleged financial infractions by some of Juventus' former chiefs, which have seriously harmed the team's efforts in Serie A this season, should obviously be highlighted first. Every ounce of energy has since been directed to get as close as possible to where they were in the chart before this happened, and all things considered, they've done very well.

At the moment the Bianconeri are in seventh place with 38 points, they are extremely unlikely to make the top four with the 10-point deficit being a huge hurdle, but they will want to stay as close as possible with the hope, a much more realistic one, of overtaking one or both teams that end up losing this fierce race in the end, and booking a place in one of Europe's lesser competitions. However, they still have to be wary of the teams below, with Torino (eighth, 37 points) and Bologna (ninth, 36) probably thinking along the same lines.

As for Europe this season, the Old Lady finished third in their Champions League group, ahead of only Maccabi Haifa, and while Benfica and Paris Saint-Germain qualified for the knockout stages of final, they were forced to go through the round of 16. -offs from the Europa League at the expense of Nantes, then they beat SC Freiburg in the round of 16. Now they await the clash against Sporting Lisbon in the quarter-finals, which will take place between the two legs of the Coppa battle against Inter.

Massimiliano Allegri's side have shown much more consistent form in recent matches, winning five of their last six matches in all competitions. The run includes a 0-3 win at Nantes in the second leg, a 4-2 win at home to city rivals Turin, a 1-0 away loss to AS Roma, a 1-0 win at home to Freiburg, a 4-2 home win against Sampdoria, and a 0-2 away win against Freiburg on Thursday.

Midfielder Paul Pogba and defender Alex Sandro are out with thigh problems. Forwards Arkadiusz Milik and Federico Chiesa have returned to training as a team, but it's still too early for either to play a full match, so they'll likely remain on the bench.

Wojciech Szczesny will be in goal, along with Danilo, Gleison Bremer and Daniele Rugani...