This has to be the most important Derby d’Italia in the last half a decade or so. A derby rich with opportunities for both teams to keep their respective season objectives alive. As Marco Materazzi said: “It’s been a while since Inter had the opportunity to play in a match as big as this. San Siro is our home and Juve cannot win there.” Matrix has highlighted the significance of the clash, the fans know it, the media acknowledges it, and it’s now left for the Nerazzurri players to spit blood against a wounded Juve side, who have all to play for after inviting Napoli back into the title race last weekend.
Attack:
Inter have netted 6 times in their last two games to compare to a Juve side that have scored just once in their last two fixtures. Inter average 1.6 goals from 14.9 shots per game, resulting in the 56 goals they have scored this season. Meanwhile The Old Lady have scored 78 goals, averaging 2.3 goals from 14.5 shots per game. Inter’s top scorer and captain Mauro Icardi is currently enjoying his best season as a professional with 26 goals in the Serie A, and has often been regarded as Juve’s kryptonite given that he has scored 7 goals against the giants from Turin. His Argentine compatriot Paulo Dybala is Juve’s top scorer this season in the Serie A with 21 goals.
Defence:
The Nerazzurri are currently the second best defensive side in the league, level with Napoli and Handanovic has kept 16 clean sheets. Inter have let in 23 goals from 11.5 shots per game, but have conceded just 2 in their last 9 games. They are up against the best defensive side in the league with just 20 goals conceded from 8.2 shots per game. Inter have made 16.6 tackles and 10.9 interceptions per game. Danilo D’Ambrosio has made 2.5 tackles and 1.4 interceptions per game, the best of all Inter players. Skriniar has an average of 4.6 clearances per game while his colleague in central defence, Joao Miranda, averagea 0.8 blocks per game. Juve on the other side have an average of 13.4 tackles and 11.4 interceptions per game, with Alex Sandro and Benatia averaging 2 tackles and 2.2 interceptions per game respectively.
Moving the ball:
Most of Inter’s offensive threats come from the right hand side at 39%, with Candreva making 2.3 key passes, 1.9 crosses per game making 8 assist. Meanwhile 34% of Inter’s attack comes from the left hand side and the remaining 27% comes through the middle. Inter have 9.3 dribbles per game with Rafinha completing 2.2 dribbles per game. The Nerazzurri have an 54.9% average in ball possession per match as well as 85.6% passing accuracy to compare with Juve’s 55.8% average possession per game and 87% passing accuracy. Douglas Costa has notched up 10 assists while Pjanic makes 2 key passes on average per game for The Old Lady.
WhoScored.com’s rating leaders:
Perisic (7.40), Icardi (7.28) and Skriniar (7.28) are the highest rated Inter players whilst Dybala (7.78), Alex Sandro (7.45) and Pjanic (7.44) are Juventus highest rated players.
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