Juventus and Inter Milan go head-to-head in Turin in the Derby d’Italia showdown that gets the attention of football faithfuls across Europe, Softfootball reports.
The Old Lady’s are unbeaten so far with two wins out of two matches while Inter have won one and lost one in a shaky start to the season and already playing catch-up in Serie A as teams like Napoli and Roma have collected maximum points to start the season on a high.
Italy is already agog for the epic clash between two old rivals on Saturday and Juventus via their official club media shared Coach Igor Tudor’s take on the game. He said:
We have strong players across the board. We’ve always played with a single striker, but getting the most out of the squad can also mean making changes. [Lois] Openda needs space, [Jonathan] David can also play as a second striker, [Dusan] Vlahovic can do everything and is in excellent form at the moment. [Teun] Koopmeiners needs some space, he’s working well and was outstanding against Atalanta. [Gleison] Bremer is fine, but I think he can raise his performance even more. [Chico] Conceicao is at 50% for Inter, we’ll decide tomorrow. There’s no emergency for [Pierre] Kalulu, he’s doing well in midfield and what matters is finding balance.
Team News
Dusan Vlahovic is pushing for a starting place for Juventus after scoring against Parma and Genoa despite starting on the bench. But it might be a little difficult to start him despite being in a good scoring form as Canada international Jonathan David joined the Old Lady’s this summer from Lille as the first choice striker. Also, newly arrived Lois Openda is another option in the final third. He came in on transfer deadline day from RB Leipzig and will be pushing for a starting shirt.
In midfield, Conceicao withdrew from Portugal’s squad with a muscular injury and may miss out. Another midfielder, Fabio Miretti is also struggling with a thigh problem and rated doubtful for this match.
Andrea Cambiaso is still serving his two-game ban and he is out for this match, so Joao Mario and Filip Kostic will join versatile pair Pierre Kalulu and Weston McKennie in the fight for wing-back role.
For Inter Milan, Switzerland international Manuel Akanji who joined on transfer deadline may make his Serie A debut at centre-back in place of Yann Bisseck as manager Chivu is expected to play a three-man defence.
Inter summer arrivals Luiz Henrique, Andy Diouf and Ange Bonny are all part of a fully fit squad, but may play from the bench.
Lautaro Martinez has a poor scoring record versus Juventus with just only two goals in 14 league games against the Bianconeri and he is expected to partner France International,Marcus Thuram in attack.
Juventus Probably XI
Di Gregorio; Gatti, Bremer, Kelly; Kalulu, Thuram, Locatelli, Mario; Koopmeiners, Yildiz; David
Inter Milan Probable XI
Sommer; Akanji, Acerbi, Bastoni; Dumfries, Barella, Calhanoglu, Sucic, Dimarco; Thuram, Martinez
Predictions
It will be a very tough game with little spaces for the strikers to operate. Despite Juventus being in a better form so far this season, Inter won’t be a pushover. Juventus 1-1 Inter Milan
