This Saturday 23 April 2016 sees Inter welcome Udinese to the San Siro in Week 35 of the 2015/16 Serie A season (kick-off 20:45 CET).
Inter come into this game on the back of the bitterest of bittersweet weeks. Things had started well with the Nerazzurri producing one of their best performances of the season in a 2-0 win over Napoli in Milan last weekend and added to Roma dropping points against Atalanta, the gap to the Giallorossi was cut to four points.
Things were looking good going into the midweek round of fixtures where Inter travelled to Genoa.
Inter started the game well and where very unlucky not to go in ahead at half-time but it was a totally different story in the second half. The Nerazzurri had no shots on target after the 60 minute mark and then gifted the game to the Grifone with yet another goal conceded from a set-play this campaign.
It was Genoa’s third league win in row against Inter at the Marassi, something which hadn’t happened since 1924!
At half-time with Inter drawing and Roma losing it’s hard to believe that Roberto Mancini didn’t bring on some creative players (Jovetic,Ljajic) to go for the win. It was the Nerazzurri’s ninth defeat of the season, six of which coming this calendar year.
Worse was to come with the news that Roma managed to turn around their match for a 3-2 win meaning Inter remain in fourth-place in the standings, but the gap is now seven points to the Giallorossi and it looks very unlikely that the Nerazzurri can bridge that gap with just four games remaining.
Udinese come into this match in rejuvenated form under Luigi De Canio who took over from Stefano Colantuono in March.
The Zebrette have lost only once since their change of Coach, with two draws and two impressive wins over Napoli in Week 31 and Fiorentina in their midweek round, which has seen them break away from the relegation zone.
The win over La Viola has seen Udinese rise to 14th-place in the league table, eight points clear of Frosinone in the last relegation place and seemingly safe for another season.
Here is the Inter team news and probable line-up as reported by La Gazzetta dello Sport at the time of writing this article:
The latest news from GDS is that Roberto Mancini could start the game in a 4-4-1-1 formation.
Samir Handanovic starts in goal against his former club. Danilo D’Ambrosio starts at right-back alongside the central defensive partnership of Joao Miranda and Jeison Murillo with Yuto Nagatomo expected to replace Alex Telles at left-back.
In midfield Gary Medel is suspended after picking up a booking at Genoa. Adem Ljajic could start on the right alongside a central midfield partnership of Felipe Melo and the returning Geoffrey Kondogbia with Ivan Perisic on the left.
Stevan Jovetic could start in a deeper role behind Mauro Icardi in the central striking role.
Probable Inter line-up (subject to change): (4-4-1-1) Handanovic; D’Ambrosio, Miranda, Murillo, Nagatomo; Ljajic, Melo, Kondogbia, Perisic; Jovetic; Icardi (c).
Bench: Berni, Carrizo, Santon, Juan Jesus, Telles, Gnoukouri, Brozovic, Palacio, Eder, Manaj.
Some Stats:
Inter have faced Udinese at the San Siro in Serie A on 42 occasions with the Nerazzurri winning 22 times to the Zebrette’s nine wins with 11 draws.
In the overall league records (home & away), Inter continue to lead the records with 40 wins to Udinese’s 20 wins with 25 of the 85 mettings between the sides drawn.
The earlier between the team this season at the Dacia Arena finished in a 0-4 win for Inter with goals from Icardi x2, Jovetic and Brozovic.
The corresponding fixture between the sides last season in Milan finished 1-2 for Udinese with goals from Icardi (Inter), Fernandes and Thereau (Udinese).
Udinese are the second-lowest scorers in the league this campaign with 31 goals, three goals ahead of the lowest scorers Hellas Verona (28).
Inter haven’t beaten the Zebrette at the San Siro since a 2-1 win back in September 2010. The goals that day came from Lucio, Eto’o (Inter) and Floro Flores (Udinese).
Player to Watch: Mauro Icardi – The Argentine is Inter’s only consistent scorer. In his six career games against Udinese, he has scored four and assisted once.
My Prediction: Inter 2-1 Udinese
Scorers: Icardi, Jovetic (Inter), Thereau (Udinese)
Officials: Referee: Domenico Celi Assistants: Passeri, Vivenzi
Fourth Official: Meli Additional Assistants: Russo, Maresca
Author’s Note: Despite losing hope in Champions League qualification, Inter will want to bounce back strong after an awful second half performance in Genoa. It is now important that the Nerazzurri remain in fourth-place to qualify for the Europa League group stage instead of going through the tricky qualifying stages. This will not be an easy game for sure as Inter tend to struggle against teams that play 3-5-2, not only that but Fiorentina are only two points behind the Nerazzurri so the pressure is on. I live in hope that Mancini can get it right this time.
Forza Inter!
