Inter were unfortunate to miss out on a place in the Champions League quarter-finals, but at least the Neroazzurri can now fully focus on their Serie A campaign and try to record the second successive league victory. Atalanta remained safely tucked away in mid table despite failing to beat Parma at home and Orobici are now hoping to pour more misery on struggling Inter.

Neroazzurri finally showing improvement

Inter have already recovered from a dismal run of results once this season as they overcome a disappointing start of the league campaign, but now they are going through another very difficult period. Their nine-match winless run finally came to an end as Inter beat Chievo away from home, whereas the good performance and a victory over Marseille proved the team are slowly getting back to business, even if they ended up crashing out of the Champions League. Having scored two goals in every one of their last three games, Inter clearly managed to rediscover their scoring touch, but the shaky back line remains a big problem. With Lucio, Samuel and even Maicon well past their prime, the Neroazzurri don’t look like they can show a considerable improvement at the back until the aforementioned players are replaced. With their rivals for the third place in the standings Udinese and Napoli playing each other, Inter have a great chance to close the gap behind them with a victory over Atalanta, meaning the hosts are likely to attack their opponents from the off.

Wesley Sneijder, Ricardo Alvarez and Fredy Guarin are all sidelined, whereas Giampaolo Pazzini is expected to return to the starting line-up.

Atalanta still going strong

The fact that Atalanta would be just one point behind Inter if they hadn’t been docked six points speaks volumes about Stefano Colantuono’s side and their performances this season. The club that boast the best youth academy in Italy are on the road to establish themselves as genuine mid table side and it looks as though the only way is up for Orobici. Atalanta are unbeaten in last six games and they clearly enter this game high on confidence and with absolutely no pressure. Orobici did record two goalless draws in their last two away games, but the trend is highly unlikely to continue as Inter are expected to go all out attack, which is something the visitors will be looking to take advantage of. With Maxi Moralez playing just behind German Denis and Guido Marilungo, the visitors have more than enough attacking potential to hurt Inter’s ageing defence.

Daniele Capelli and Matteo Brighi continue to miss out, but Stefano Lucchini, Simone Tribocchi and Guglielmo Stendardo could return.

Verdict

Inter are showing a lot of improvement up front and they should be able to score a couple of goals even without Wesley Sneijder orchestrating the play. Atalanta, on the other hand, are brimming with confidence at the moment and I am pretty sure they can score at Meazza as well.

Our prediction: Both teams to score

Odds: 2.00 (1/1)

Bookmaker: Ladbrokes