Inter-Napoli is a Week 16 match of Serie A and will be played on Wednesday at 20:45: odds, predictions, TV and streaming
The first day of Serie A post-World Cup features a mouth-watering big match. The San Siro will be the scene of the tricolour-flavoured challenge between Inter and Napoli: the Nerazzurri to get back into the title race and try to reopen the championship; the Azzurri, on the other hand, to further secure it and consolidate a supremacy that has never been in question so far.
There are now eleven consecutive victories for Luciano Spalletti’s team: Napoli are the only side never to have lost and they are not on full points only because of the two draws against Fiorentina and Lecce last August. The Neapolitan steamroller also has the best attack in the tournament, with an impressive 37 goals scored in 15 matches, three more than Inter, who follow closely behind in this special classification. Simone Inzaghi’s men are 11 points behind in the league table: the closest – so to speak – to Napoli is AC Milan, who are eight points behind and are struggling to keep up with Di Lorenzo and his team-mates. For the Azzurri, this is an examination of no small importance, as a victory against a direct competitor would give them even more awareness and conviction in their own means. But the unknowns about their state of form, almost two months after their last official match, are certainly not few. On the contrary.
Inter concede too many goals
Napoli had gone ‘on holiday’ with a 3-2 win over Udinese: a match dominated in the first 60 minutes, then Spalletti’s team relaxed and risked a comeback.
Dzeko
Same result for Inter at home to Atalanta, the first direct clash won by Lautaro Martinez and his team-mates, who managed to take away three points from the Gewiss Stadium in a decidedly robotic manner. The Nerazzurri have never lost in the last friendly matches, conceding only two goals in the five tests they have been involved in: good news for a team that has to reckon with the worst defence (22 goals conceded) in the top ten. There were some worries for Spalletti, however, who after two wins against Antalyaspor and Crystal Palace lost to Villarreal and Lille at the ‘Maradona’.
Inter-Napoli: the latest line-up news
Inzaghi in the last two friendlies has rediscovered Lukaku, who was almost always absent in the first half of the season. The Belgian giant will partner Dzeko, the man most ‘on fire’. Only bench for the world champion Lautaro Martinez, only a few days ago returned from Argentina after the world triumph. Mkhitaryan, tried out by Inzaghi also in the role of second striker, is not at his best, but the Armenian should grit his teeth and take the field. In defence there is Acerbi in place of the injured de Vrij. Instead, Brozovic’s absence is heavy: Calhanoglu will be in charge.
It will be a typical Napoli side from the San Siro, with the exception of Juan Jesus in the centre of defence in place of a convalescent Rrahmani, whom Spalletti prefers not to risk. In the offensive trident, in addition to Osimhen and Kvaratskhelia – Inzaghi should build a cage around them – should play Politano, ahead of Lozano.
The Prediction
The two most prolific attacks in the league clash. Who, by the way, have scored far more goals than expected. Difficult, therefore, to assume a low-scoring game. Inter is the only team never to have drawn, a fact that makes this big match even more interesting. For the Nerazzurri it is like a final: a defeat would almost definitively exclude them from the fight for the Scudetto. Napoli, on the other hand, must dispel the San Siro taboo, as they have always lost in the Milanese stadium in their last three matches against Inter. After fifty days of stoppage time, it would be risky to say anything about the final result: we are certain, however, that there will be no shortage of emotions. We expect at least one goal on each side in a match that promises sparks.
The likely line-up for Inter v Napoli
- INTER (3-5-2): Onana; Skriniar, Acerbi, Bastoni; Dumfries, Barella, Calhanoglu, Mkhitaryan, Dimarco; Lukaku, Dzeko.
- NAPOLI (4-3-3): Meret; Di Lorenzo, Juan Jesus, Kim, Olivera; Zambo Anguissa, Lobotka, Zielinski; Politano, Osimhen, Kvaratskhelia.
POSSIBLE RESULT: 2-2
