Newly promoted Novara are winless after two Serie A rounds and they now face an uphill task against wounded lion that is Inter. The Neroazzurri showed some improvement against Trabzonspor and Roma, and are now hoping to record first victory of the season.

Tough game for Novara

Novara produced quite a coup by gaining promotion to Italy’s top flight, but it looks as though the club chiefs haven’t done enough to make the squad competitive at the highest level. The club did bring a host of new players, but with almost none of them playing at regular basis in Serie A before arriving to Novara, the squad clearly lack the quality as well as experienced to be able to compete in the elite division. The Biancoazzurri managed to come from two goals down to record a 2:2 draw against Chievo, but they only scored the second goal after Chievo had a man sent off. Attilio Tesser’s side could do nothing to avoid defeat in Cagliari at the weekend and they are now set to play first Serie A game on home ground. The hosts are likely to face big problems against very good Inter side, especially as the Neroazzurri have started to show some improvement of late.

Alex Pinardi is a major doubt with a muscle strain, but Paolo Dellafiore and Riccardo Meggiorini have resumed training and they could be in contention.

Inter finally improving

Inter have experienced numerous problems at the start of the season, with coach Gian Piero Gasperini deemed as a main culprit for the poor results. His experiments with team formation and starting line-up have made the transition period even longer than expected, but it is evident that the Neroazzurri are raising their form and I expect them to come good in no time. Inter played really well against both Trabzonspor and Roma, having created a host of clear-cut chances and they were very unlucky to pick up just one point from the two games. However, the good showings have helped the players restore some of the lost confidence, so we should finally see a real Inter in the game against weak Novara. The Neroazzurri have got more than enough quality to win this game and are also very motivated to return to the right track.

Dejan Stankovic and Cristian Chivu remain injury doubts, but Thiago Motta, Andrea Poli, Maicon and Emiliano Viviano are all long-term worries.

Verdict

Novara are largely struggling to cope with the demands of Serie A and they are very unfortunate to be facing Inter in their first home game. The Neroazzurri are looking better by the day and with the quality they possess in the ranks, I expect them to record a comfortable victory.

Our prediction: Inter with -0.75 Asian handicap

Odds: 1.90 (9/10)

Bookmaker: Ladbrokes