It’s Derby week in Italy, after Lazio – Rome, we have yet another derby upon us. Inter Milan host Juventus in a season defining “Derby D’Italia”, as both seek to close the gap to first place. Andrea Pirlo and Antonio Conte face off for the first time as managers in this game. Here’s them as coach and player over the years.
Match Preview
Both sides were able to seal their qualification for the coppa Italia quarter finals, as Juve was able to beat Genoa and Inter took out Fiorentina. Although both games went to ET, Conte and Pirlo were able to rotate as key players like Ronaldo, Lukaku and Hakimi were used as subs.
Inter were on an 8 games winning run before they lost to Sampdoria and conceded late against Roma to settle for a draw. That run however sees them in 2nd place, just 3 points off of their rivals Milan. Antonio Conte’s side are enjoying themselves, scoring 43 goals so far this season. The Nerrazurri are winless in their last 5 meetings against Juventus, so they will look at this as the perfect opportunity to turn that record around.
On the other hand, Juventus won 4 of their last 5 matches in serie A and are on a 3 matches winning run. Currently at 4th place and just 4 points away from Inter in 2nd with a game in hand, Juve will look to keep their impressive 2021 start especially after beating Milan at San Siro 3-1. Andrea Pirlo will hope to replicate this match, to beat the other Milan side this time. The Bianconeri are solid defensively, conceding a league low 16 goals and will rely on that as they face the deadly duo of Lukaku and Lautaro.
Match Prediction
With Conte’s more likely to play on the counters, Juventus will have most of the ball to try and create. However, they will also have to be careful themselves as they will be without several key players. De Ligt joined the likes of Sandro and Cuardado in testing positive for Covid-19, although Pirlo was very calm addressing the issue in his press conference.
Both teams have what it takes to make the difference, but they both have weaknesses as well. They are both a little too dependent on one man: Lukaku on one side and Ronaldo on the other. Without those two players the potential of the two teams decreases considerably. Inter have a big problem struggling to win big matches in recent years under Conte. Will he be able to turn that record around, or will the student becomes the master and overcome the obstacle? Juve are used to the pressure to win in Italy, coming from a 3-1 win in San Siro last time, they have what it takes to replicate the performance and grab the crucial points.
It’s a tough match to predict, therefore playing over in goals and both teams to score seems the safest bets to make. Although we think that Juve are stronger and could run away with the win.
Current Odds
- Juventus Win/Draw: 1.57
- Over 2.5 goals: 1.66
- Both Team To Score: 1.57
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