This Tuesday 19 January 2016, Inter travel to the Stadio San Paolo to face in-form Napoli in the Coppa Italia quarter-finals (kick off 20:45 CET).
Inter come into this game on the back of a disappointing 1-1 draw away at Atalanta on Saturday in Serie A and Roberto Mancini will know that the team need to improve in all departments but especially on the attacking part of their game, which is really what has plagued the side all season long, if they are to stay in the Champions League qualification places and to remain in the Coppa Italia hunt.
Inter qualified for the Coppa Italia quarter-final stage by beating Cagliari 3-0 at the San Siro on 15 December 2015, thanks to goals from Rodrigo Palacio, Marcelo Brozovic and Ivan Perisic.
Maurizio Sarri’s Napoli come into this game on the back of a 3-1 win against Sassuolo at the San Paolo which was the Partenopei’s fourth league win in a row.
The in-form Neopolitans are now leading Serie A on 44 points, two points clear of second placed Juventus and four points ahead of upcoming opponents Inter in third place, mainly down to the exploits of star striker Gonzalo Higuain, who leads the capo-cannoniere charts on 20 goals.
Napoli qualified for the Coppa Italia quarter-finals by beating Hellas Verona 3-0 at the San Paolo thanks to goals from Omar El Kaddouri, Dries Mertens and Jose Callejon.
The winner of this quarter-final will face the winner of the match between Juventus and Lazio in the Coppa Italia semi-finals.
Here is the Inter team news and probable line up as reported by La Gazzetta dello Sport at the time of writing:
La Gazzetta reports that Juan Pablo Carrizo could be set to start in goal ahead of Inter’s player of the season so far Samir Handanovic.
In defence Davide Santon and Juan Jesus could also be set for a start as Inter are expected to rotate their line up.
In midfield Geoffrey Kondogbia and Felipe Melo also seem set to start as well as Ivan Perisic. Up top Mauro Icardi could be replaced by one of Rodrigo Palacio or Stevan Jovetic.
Probable Inter line up (subject to change): Carrizo, Santon, Miranda, Murillo, Juan Jesus, Felipe Melo, Kondogbia, Medel, Perisic, Ljajic, Jovetic
Bench: Berni, Handanovic, Telles, Montoya, Ranocchia, D’Ambrosio, Nagatomo, Guarin, Gnoukouri, Brozovic, Palacio, Icardi, Biabiany, Manaj
Some Stats:
Inter and Napoli have played each other 6 times at the Stadio San Paolo in the Coppa Italia records with Napoli leading the stats with 2 wins to Inter’s 1 win with 3 matches drawn.
In the overall Coppa Italia records (home & away), Inter lead the stats with 4 wins to Napoli’s 2 wins with 4 of the 10 matches drawn.
The two sides met at the same stage in last season’s Coppa Italia on 4 February 2015 with Napoli coming out on top 1-0 after a 95th minute winner from Gonzalo Higuain.
Inter’s last win over Napoli in the Coppa Italia came on 26 January 2011, in a 4-5 penalty shootout victory at the San Paolo after a 0-0 draw in 120 minutes.
Inter have won the Coppa Italia 7 times in their history with the last one coming during the 2010/11 season with a 3-1 win over Palermo in the final thanks to goals from Eto’o x2 and Milito.
Player to Watch: Felipe Melo – The Brazilian is back after his suspension and he owes the fans, his team mates and the coach a good performance after his shocking sending off against Lazio.
My Prediction: Napoli 2-2 Inter
Scorers: Higuain, Mertens (Napoli), Jovetic, Perisic (Inter)
Officials: Referee: Paolo Valeri Assistants: Giallatini, Passeri
Fourth Official: Di Bello
Author’s Note: I have went for an optimistic 2-2 draw with the match possibly going all the way to penalties, but this could only possibly happen if Handanovic starts in goal. If La Gazzetta are right and Carrizo starts then I think we will be in for a long night. We need a big performance to stop our mini slump badly.
Forza Inter!