This week Inter travel to the Stadio Friuli to face Udinese in match day 16 of the 2015/16 Serie A season on Saturday 12 December 2015 (kick off 20:45 CET).
Inter come into this game on the back of a 1-0 win against Genoa last weekend, which was Inter’s eighth win this season by that score line. The game itself was dominated by Inter as Genoa seemed happy to dig in defensively and play on the counter attack however the score line should have been much more handsome, after a lineman’s error denied Inter a goal and added to that some lacklustre finishing on the day.
Defensively Inter were also able to set another record with not conceding any shots on target in the first half (the first time this has happened this season).
Inter were again handed a red card (their fifth of the season) after Danilo D’Ambrosio’s two bookings and the Italian full back will miss this game as a result.
This win and Napoli’s defeat against Bologna sees Inter leapfrog the Partenopei into first place on 33 points, one point ahead of Fiorentina in second place and two points ahead of Napoli in third position.
Stefano Colantuono’s Udinese have really had a patchy season with suspensions, injury problems and the lack of form from talisman Antonio Di Natale hitting the side hard and resulting in seven defeats so far against Fiorentina (3-0), Napoli (1-0), Roma (3-1), Milan (2-3), Empoli (1-2), Lazio (2-0) and Palermo (0-1).
Despite their form however they have picked up some impressive wins against Chievo (2-3), Sampdoria (1-0), Frosinone (1-0), Bologna (1-2) and Juventus (0-1) which when added to three draws against Sassuolo (0-0), Hellas Verona (1-1) and Genoa(1-1), sees the Zebrette sit in thirteenth place in the Serie A table on 18 points, 4 points from the relegation zone.
Here is the Inter team news and probable line up as reported by La Gazzetta dello Sport:
Inter coach Roberto Mancini may well mirror the 3-5-2 formation used by Udinese for this game just like he did against Torino earlier in the season.
Samir Handanovic, statistically Europe’s top goalkeeper with ten clean sheets this season starts on his return to his former club along with a three man defence consisting of Jeison Murillo, Joao Miranda and Juan Jesus.
In the wide positions Yuto Nagatomo is expected to replace the in form Jonathan Biabiany on the right with Alex Telles expected on the left.
In central midfield there are doubts over whether Geoffreyrey Kondogbia will start having just returned from injury so we could see Gary Medel along with Felipe Melo and one of Fredy Guarin or Marcelo Brozovic with the Croatian favoured.
Up top captain Mauro Icardi is expected to return after sitting out last week’s win against Genoa, in place of Stevan Jovetic with Adem Ljajic expected to start in a shadow striker role behind the Argentine.
Probable Inter line up (subject to change): (3-5-2) Handanovic; Murillo, Miranda, Juan Jesus; Nagatomo, Brozovic, Melo, Medel, Telles; Ljajic, Icardi (c)
Bench: Carrizo, Berni, Dodo, Montoya, Ranocchia, Kondogbia, Guarin, Gnoukouri, Biabiany, Palacio, Jovetic, Perisic, Manaj.
Some Stats:
Inter and Udinese have faced each other at the Stadio Friuli 43 times in Serie A with Inter leading the stats with 18 wins to Udinese’s 11 wins with 14 matches drawn.
In the overall Serie A meetings between the teams (home and away), Inter continue to lead the stats with 41 wins to Udinese’s 20 wins with 25 of the 86 matches drawn.
In last season’s corresponding fixture at the Stadio Friuli on 28 April 2015, Inter won 1-2, with goals from Icardi (pen) and Podolski sandwiching a Di Natale strike.
Udinese’s last win against Inter came last season at the San Siro on 7 December 2014 in a 1-2 come from behind victory with goals from Fernandes and Thereau after an Icardi opener.
Inter have won 5 of their last 6 matches in Serie A against Genoa, Frosinone, Torino, Roma and Bologna with their only defeat in this sequence coming at Napoli two weeks ago.
Player to Watch: Mauro Icardi – I expect the Argentine to be up for this game given his benching last weekend and against a team that has conceded 20 goals this season I expect a goal from him.
My Prediction: Udinese 0-1 Inter
Scorer: Icardi
Officials: Referee: Davide Massa Assistants: Dobosz, Pegorin
Fourth Official: Paganessi Additional Assistants: Tagliavento, Maresca
Author’s Note: For me this is a must win game for Inter given that the teams around them all face each other with Napoli taking on Roma and Juventus facing Fiorentina and if these matches were to finish in draws then an Inter win would see them go a possible 3 points clear. This is a big chance to put pressure on the clubs around us as well as a great chance to start pulling away from the chasing pack.
Forza Inter!
