Inter Milan vs Juventus
Second plays fourth in the Serie A clash of the weekend when Inter Milan host Juventus at the Sunday night (Italy time) fixture at the San Siro Stadium.
Known as the Derby D’Italia, this is one of the Serie A 2021 results fans from around the country look out for and this season it has even more meaning.
Both teams arrive on the back of Coppa Italia victories, but Juve have the better form in Serie A so far in 2021 and victory for I Bianconeri will lift them to within a point of Inter, and with a game in hand.
The latest Serie A 2021 betting odds still hold Antonio Conte’s Inter as favourites to win the title at around 2.00, with Juventus narrowing the gap at 3.00.
If the visitors can fashion a win on Sunday then those figures could well reverse. That’s how important this game is.
Talking Points
Inter’s lost momentum
Conte has spent big over the last 18 months and he’s under mounting pressure to win a trophy to show for it.
But a return of one point from the last two games has reduced Inter’s chances of winning a first Scudetto in 10 years.
Nonetheless, I Nerazzurri have the players to beat any team on their day.
Wide-man Achraf Hakimi has been in fine form, and he scored his sixth goal of the season with a screamer which bounced in off the underside of the bar as Inter played out a 2-2 draw with Roma.
But Gianluca Mancini’s late equaliser for Roma, on the back of Inter’s defeat against Sampdoria, has left Conte’s team three points off the pace.
Lautaro Martinez continues to impress alongside Romelu Lukaku up front and he has nine goals to his name, while all action midfielder Marcelo Brozovic has weighed in with six assists.
Off-field problems plague the club with out of favour Christian Eriksen seemingly on his way out while his representatives take action against Inter for £6-M they believe they are owed following his transfer in January 2020.
I Nerazzurri need to cut out the noise and make their point on the pitch.
Bad end to 2020 has sparked Juventus
After Andrea Pirlo’s side lost their final game of 2020 to Fiorentina, they were handed a three-point deduction when the league decided to replay their previously cancelled match against Napoli, though I Bianconeri were initially awarded a victory by forfeit.
But the Old Lady has begun the New Year with a steely determination, as four victories on the bounce and three in the league have sent shivers down the spines of fans of both Milan clubs.
Juventus recorded a 4-1 victory over Udinese followed by two 3-1’s, latterly against Sassuolo, but the big result was to inflict a first defeat of the 2020/21 campaign on pace setters AC Milan.
Now just seven points off the top and with a game in hand, the Old Lady is gathering momentum at the right time.
Federico Chiesa seems to be settling in nicely at last by contributing four goals and three assists so far, and he put in a man-of-the-match performance in the victory over Milan.
He could turn out to be the player for this big occasion.
Ronaldo vs Lukaku
Two former Manchester United strikers come head-to-head in this huge game. Indeed they are two of the most prolific goal scorers for club and country over the past few seasons.
In the race for the 2020/21 Capocannoniere, Cristiano Ronaldo with 15 goals and Romelu Lukaku with 12 are leading the race ahead of Lazio’s Ciro Immobile and Milan’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
That’s some foursome.
History
The Old Lady has bossed the head-to-heads between these two sides since 1993 -winning 29 to Inter’s 13 while there have been 20 draws.
Juventus did the double last season, winning 2-0 in Turin and 1-2 in Milan.
At the San Siro Paulo Dybala opened the scoring before Martinez equalised and Gonzalo Higuain scored a dramatic late winner to end I Nerazzurri’s perfect start to the 2019/20 campaign.
In fact, the current champions have won five and drawn once of the last six meetings and are unbeaten in 11 away matches this term, so they will fancy their chances of extending that run.
Betting Tip
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Inter Milan vs Juventus | Juventus Asian Handicap 0.00 @ 2.11 |
| January 18, 03:45 (GMT+8) |
The SBOTOP statistics are in Juve’s favour but the odds slightly favour the hosts. Inter are at 2.38 with the draw at 3.16 and Juventus at 2.74.
With Roma away to Lazio and leaders Milan not facing Cagliari until Monday night, the winner of this clash could make serious progress in the race for the title.
Surely it’s going to be a tight affair, but I’m backing I Bianconeri to edge it. And for a long-shot bet, a repeat of last season’s 1-2 is at 9.40.
A SHORT EXPLANATION ON HOW OUR ( ) BETS ARE WORTH: |
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| = €20 (Highly confident) |
 = €10 (CONFIDENT) |
= €5 (SOMEWHAT CONFIDENT) |
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Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.
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