Inter Milan and Juventus' Serie A title credentials will on
the line on Sunday as two giants of Italian football face off in a San Siro showdown.
Holding a one-point
lead and a game in hand, Inter will have more than 70,000 fans roaring
them on at a "Derby of Italy" which could define their season.
Simone Inzaghi's side have been the country's best since
the start of the season and are rightly looking down on the rest of the league
with comfortably the best attack and best defence.
Inter have collected 54 points from their
21 matches, just two fewer than reigning champions Napoli had
at the same stage last season before running away with a
historic Scudetto.
As a reward Inzaghi gave his players two days off after
last weekend's 1-0 win at Fiorentina "as they deserve it". Juve have
proven extremely hard to shake off, a team which has the knack of
getting results regardless of performances.
However, Massimiliano Allegri's side, who are unbeaten since
September, were held by lowly Empoli last weekend and haven't
faced a team in the top half of Serie A since the turn of the year.
Allegri has Dusan Vlahovic in hot
scoring form while France midfielder Adrien Rabiot and Federico
Chiesa both return from injury just in time for the
biggest match of Juve's season so far.
"Nobody expected us to be in this position at the start
of the season and a draw should not cause us to lose confidence. You
cannot win every game," said Allegri.
Inzaghi meanwhile has a practically full squad to pick from,
with former Juve wing-back Juan Cuadrado the only player
unavailable for Sunday. Hakan Calhanoglu and Nicolo
Barella return from suspension while Federico Dimarco will
reclaim his spot at left wing-back after sitting out the Fiorentina win.
A four-point cushion would be very handy as next week Inter travel
to Roma while Juve host struggling Udinese,
while what promises to be a brutal Champions League tie with Atletico
Madrid looms later in the month.
Atalanta will defend their spot in Italy's top four when they
host Lazio just before the Inter and Juve face off, as a
clutch of clubs battle for Champions League football.
Lazio sit seventh but are only two points behind Atalanta, as are Fiorentina
who are at Lecce on Friday, while Roma trail Gian Piero Gasperini's
side by a single point and host relegation-threatened Cagliari on
Monday night.
Player to watch: Hakan Calhanoglu
He may not make as many headlines as star striker Lautaro
Martinez but Calhanoglu has
a good claim to be Inter's stand-out player so far this season.
Inzaghi has shifted Calhanoglu to a deeper midfield playmaker role and the Turkey
captain has responded with some of the best football of his career.
The 29-year-old has scored 11 times in all competitions and
set up three more, and his return from suspension will be a huge boost for
Inter as they look to assert their dominance over Juve.
Fixtures
Friday
Lecce v Fiorentina
Saturday
Empoli v Genoa, Udinese v Monza, Frosinone v AC Milan, Bologna
v Sassuolo
Sunday
Torino v Salernitana, Napoli v Verona, Atalanta v Lazio,
Inter v Juventus
Monday
Roma v Cagliari
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