Inter Milan v Juventus – Preview, Predictions and Best Bets

Inter Milan host Juventus on Sunday night in a massive Serie A match. The hosts haven’t beaten the Old Lady in six meetings but need to close the gap to Milan at the top of the table. Juventus have a game in hand and victory would take them just one point off Internazionale have played a match less.

Inter Milan Form

After a poor run (W2, D5, L3) in October and November, Inter have found their best level again. They have won nine of their last 11 matches including a 2-1 win after extra time against Fiorentina in the Coppa Italia in midweek. Romelu Lukaku came off the bench to score the winner.

That was an important result as eight Serie A wins on the bounce was followed by a shock 2-1 loss at Sampdoria and then a 2-2 away draw at Roma despite leading after 85 minutes.

Inter Milan Team News

Antonio Conte rotated his side in the Coppa Italia with Romelu Lukaku and Achraf Hakimi amongst the key players used as substitutes. All of the big guns should return with players like Ivan Perisic, Alexis Sanchez and Christian Eriksen returning to the substitutes bench.

Macias Vecino and Danilo D’Ambrosio are the two regulars who are absent with injuries in midfield and at right wingback respectively.

Inter Milan Motivation

This is a massive match in the title race and Inter will be totally focused on beating the defending Champions whilst also closing the three point gap to Milan in first place. Don’t expect any risky changes from Conte though, like Sanchez joining two other strikers on the pitch or Perisic as a wingback. A draw would be an okay result in that it stops Juve going within one point of Inter with a game in hand.

Juventus Form

After a relatively slow start to life at Juve coach (with two wins in six), Andrea Pirlo has settled into his new role well. The Old Lady have lost just one of their last 17 matches in all competitions. In Serie A, the side have lost once all season but six draws in 16 matches have proven damaging.

Juve have won six of their last eight in the league and three on the bounce; 4-1 at home to Udinese, 3-1 at leaders Milan and 3-1 at home to Sassuolo. In their last match, they beat Genoa 3-2 after extra time in the Coppa Italia.

Juventus Team News

Pirlo rested several big players against Genoa in midweek in the cup and some had to come on to secure the win in extra time. All of those players should return for this match including Cristiano Ronaldo who played just over half an hour.

Juventus have been without Alex Sandro, Matthijs de Ligt and Juan Cuadrado of late due to COVID-19 but are hoping at least a couple of them will be available against Inter. Paulo Dybala injured his knee and will be absent.

Juventus Motivation

Pirlo knows that a win will take them four points off Milan and one point off Inter with one less game played. That will properly take them back into the title race and increase pressure on the sides above them.

With Inter likely to play more on the break, Juventus are going to have a lot of the ball and have to find a way around Conte’s compact 5-3-2 defensive setup.

Key Stats

Inter have won 8 of their last 10 Serie A matches

The Nerazzurri have seen over 2.5 goals in their last 6 matches

Juventus are eight matches unbeaten against Inter

Inter have scored a league-high 43 goals in Serie A

Juventus have conceded a league-low 16 goals in Serie A

Biaconeri are unbeaten in 8 away Serie A matches

Juve have won 3 away Serie A matches in a row

Juventus have drawn a league-high 6 Serie A matches (4/8 on the road)

Prediction

A very tight, cagey match is expected. The game could go any of three ways but considering that Inter haven’t beat Juventus since 2016, Pirlo’s side may have enough to get a draw or narrow win.