Juventus vs Inter Milan

December 6, 2017
By: Milos Markovic

Serie A leaders Inter Milan travel to Turin in effort to maintain their unbeaten record in the league.

The task will be easier said than done knowing that reigning champions Juventus are more than eager to get back into the Scudetto race and Derby d’Italia is the best chance they can get to do so.

Can Juventus defend their title?

The Italian giants Juventus are facing one of the biggest title challenges in recent years. Their domestic dominance is well-documented with six Serie A titles on the trot but this season brought a more challenging task with no less than four teams fighting for Scudetto.

Serie A has long been a one-horse race with former Italian giants AC Milan and Inter Milan unable to mount a more serious title challenge but the influx of foreign investments has – in Inter Milan’s case at least – made the title race much more interesting. Max Allegri’s men are currently sitting in third place in the Serie A table, two points adrift of leaders Inter Milan and could regain the top spot on Saturday. Despite the unflattering place in the standings, Juventus are the most compelling and convincing Serie A side, having scored 41 goals in 15 matches. Paulo Dybala continued his last season’s form and is the third-best Serie A striker at the moment with 12 goals to his name. the Argentine star will once again be the one to watch in the derby match.

Max Allegri fielded a strong line-up against Olympiakos Piraeus in the Champions League during the week and is expected to make little change to his side.

Gianluigi could make a return to the fold whereas Chiellini, Howedes and Lichtsteiner remain sidelined with injuries.

Icardi the Unstoppable

What Dybala is for Juventus, captain Mauro Icardi is for Inter Milan. The 24-year-old Nerazzurri captain is thriving under the guidance of Luciano Spalletti and already has 16 Serie A goals next to his name.

Icardi’s last goal in a 5-0 win over Chievo moved him into the top 10 of the club’s all-time scoring list with the total of 94 goals for Inter Milan. His flying form has attracted an interest from Real Madrid but Los Blancos rumours are unlikely to turn the head of Inter Milan captain who seems to be enjoying the best moment of his career. Icardi’s flying form is much down to great work done by Luciano Spalletti. The former AS Roma boss turned a huge corner at Inter by creating a resolute defensive unit and a prolific attacking line and it seems that Nerazzurri are finally going to end the poor run that saw them finish out of the top-three for six straight seasons. What’s more, Inter Milan have never been closer to winning their first Serie A title since the iconic 2009/10 season. A win in Turin would get them one huge step closer to achieving it.

Gagliardini and Miranda are getting back to the squad following their yellow card suspensions, whereas Zinho Vanheusden is still nurturing his knee injury.

Verdict

Derby D’Italia is hard to predict but easy to enjoy and that’s what we suggest you do. What we expect to see in Turin are the two teams eager to play and put in a fine performance and goals should be the safest option here.

Top pick: Both teams to score – yes   1.91 (10/11) @WilliamHill

Alternative pick 1: Mauro Icardi to score anytime   2.70 (17/10) @Betfred

Alternative pick 2: Inter Milan – Draw no Bet   4.20 (16/5) @Betfair

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