Inter Milan vs Napoli
The penultimate round of the Serie A season has one clear standout fixture: Inter Milan vs Napoli. As things stand, Inter still have a mathematical chance of catching leaders Juventus. Although, the Serie A 2020 odds have the champions as massive favourites to clinch their ninth straight Scudetto.
Inter will have the chance to avenge their Coppa Italia semi-final defeat to Napoli, who went on to win the cup after beating Juve in the final.
Gennaro Gattuso’s side has already clinched Europa League football thanks to their cup triumph, but they will nevertheless look to end the season strong by bringing down the Nerazzurri once again.
Talking Points
Inter’s Ex-Red Devils leading the way
After back-to-back draws against Roma and Fiorentina, Inter Milan finally got back to winning ways as they smashed Genoa 3-0. The win sent Inter back up to the second place, one point above Atalanta.
Romelu Lukaku starred against Genoa as he bagged a brace, while the in-form Alexis Sanchez also had another fine performance and scored the other goal.
The two former Manchester United forwards have been among Inter’s standout players post-restart. Lukaku has scored six goals in his last nine league appearances, while Sanchez has three goals and seven assists in 11 appearances.
Thanks in large part to Lukaku and Alexis, Inter have been one of the most prolific teams in Serie A post-lockdown. They’ve scored 28 goals, which is tied with neighbours AC Milan for the most since the restart, although Inter have played one game more (11-10).
Sanchez’s emergence has made up for Lautaro Martinez’s sudden lack of Serie A 2020 highlights since returning to action. The highly touted Argentine has just one goal in his last 11 games as rumours about a potential move to Barcelona in the summer rumble on.
Inter have not been quite as impressive in defence, though. They’ve kept three clean sheets in their last four games, but their opponents in those games were among the worst attacking sides in the league.
The restart also hasn’t helped improve Inter’s home form, which has been subpar all season. They’ve won just three of their six matches at the San Siro, with two draws and a loss to Bologna, where they threw away an early lead.
Napoli have star striker back
After suffering a shock 2-1 defeat away to Parma, Napoli bounced back right away to score an impressive 2-0 home win against Sassuolo last time out. Napoli absolutely dominated the match as they had 21 shots to Sassuolo’s seven, with eight of their shots on target.
With their clean sheet, Napoli became the first side to keep a free-scoring Sassuolo side — one that played out exciting 3-3 draws against both Inter and Juventus — without a goal since the restart.
Napoli star Dries Mertens picked up a muscle injury in a recent match against Udinese and had to be subbed off after just half an hour. But after missing the Parma match, he returned as a substitute against Sassuolo and set up Allan’s goal deep in stoppage time.
It remains to be seen whether manager Gennaro Gattuso will decide to start Mertens following his recent injury scare, but he should at least have the Belgian available as a super-sub against Inter.
Mertens scored the decisive goal in the second leg to knock out Inter in their Coppa Italia semi-final tie. It was also the goal that made him Napoli’s all-time leading scorer.
Napoli have been one of the form teams in the league since the restart. They’ve picked up the fourth-most points (20) thanks to six wins and two draws in 10 games, although both Atalanta and Inter have played one more game than them.
However, their form away from the San Paolo post-restart has been a bit patchy. They’ve won just two of their five away matches, with two defeats and a draw.
History
Recent league encounters between Inter and Napoli have been highly competitive. Napoli hold the slight edge in wins (10-8), while there have been seven draws.
Although, Inter have won two out of the last three meetings, including a 3-1 win at the San Paolo in their first matchup of the season. Lukaku bagged a brace in that match, while Lautaro sealed the win with a goal in the second half.
Betting Tip
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Inter Milan vs Napoli | Napoli Asian Handicap +0.25 @ 2.06 |
| July 29, 03:45 (GMT+8) |
SBOBET odds have Inter priced as -0.25 favourites on the Asian Handicap market owing to home advantage. But in this battle between two evenly matched sides, I’m leaning toward Napoli to pick up a positive result.
While they are slight underdogs, they are also fully capable of beating Inter at San Siro, who have not been great at home all year. Even a draw would see the bet win, so Napoli are the way to go.
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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