While Roma suffered a disappointing defeat away to Cagliari, Inter couldn’t beat Palermo, one of the worst travelers in the top flight, at home, meaning that both sides will have something to prove in this derby game.

Just when it seemed that Roma would be able to get back in contention for the Champions League places, the Giallorossi entered the poor run of form and it’s now back to the drawing board.

The 3-0 defeat to Juventus in Coppa Italia hinted that Luis Enrique’s side were starting to lose ground, whereas the home draw with Bologna and 4-2 loss to Cagliari were seen as major blows to team’s European ambitions.

Poor defensive showings are proving to be a major problem, which is hardly a surprise when we know their back line comprises of inexperienced Rosi and Angel, as well as calamitous Kjaer and Heinze/Juan.

Taking that into account and Inter’s impressive scoring run, I see a big value in odds of 2.85 (37/20) offered by Sportingbet on Inter to score two or more goals.

Taddei and Heinze are expected to replace Kjaer and Jose Angel in the starting line-up, whereas everybody at the club is hoping Daniele De Rossi will be able to recover in time.

Totti, Lamela and Borini are set to form the attacking trident, but Pablo Daniel Osvaldo, Marco Cassetti and Nicolas Burdisso remain long-term casualties.

Probable starting line-up (4-3-3): Stekelenburg – Rosi, Juan, Heinze, Taddei – De Rossi, Gago, Pjanic – Borini, Totti, Lamela.

Just like Roma, Inter have suffered a small dip in form of late, although that was quite normal after they had recorded eight straight victories in all competitions.

Claudio Ranieri intentionally sacrificed the Coppa Italia clash with Napoli so as to keep his players fresh for Serie A game against Lecce, but despite the fact that the Neroazzurri played a great game at Via del Mare, they ended up suffering a disappointing defeat.

Inter then played out an entertaining 4-4 draw with Palermo at Giuseppe Meazza and the match saw Diego Milito score all four goals for the home side, thus proving he is back to his best.

The Argentine is set to lead the attack against Roma as well and he is 2.88 (17/9) with bet365 to score at any time.

Even if Inter failed to win any of their last three games, their latest displays have been nothing short of impressive, so you’ll forgive me for seeing away win as a good bet here, especially as the odds are 3.00 (2/1) at William Hill.

Playmakers Wesley Sneijder and Ricardo Alvarez are both doubtful with a muscle injury, whereas Dejan Stankovic and Diego Forlan remain sidelined. New signing Angelo Palombo is expected to start.

Probable starting line-up (4-3-1-2): Julio Cesar – Maicon, Lucio, Samuel, Nagatomo – Zanetti, Cambiasso, Palombo – Sneijder – Milito, Pazzini.