As the dust settles from the fallout of last week’s controversial Derby D’Italia, the Nerazzurri come back home to host struggling Empoli this afternoon.
Stefano Pioli will rue the fact that while this might have seemed like a straightforward match at home, it’s become complicated due to the suspensions of Mauro Icardi and Ivan Perisic. Despite the squad’s depth being sufficient to cope with the absences, it is always less than ideal to step on the pitch without your two best attacking threats.
It will be interesting to see what mentality Pioli will try and instil in his players; hopefully we can see the high intensity and aggression that’s marked Pioli’s Inter without any impatience or edginess as a hangover from last week.
Team News
Dominating the headlines will be the suspensions of Icardi and Perisic, and while the Italian press expect Rodrigo Palacio and Eder to be straight swapped in, fans of Gabigol won’t be too wishful if they want to see the Brazilian starlet make an appearance in some capacity during the match.
Probable Inter line-up (4-2-3-1): Handanovic; Ansaldi, Miranda, Murillo, D’Ambrosio; Kondogbia, Gagliardini; Candreva, Banega, Eder, Palacio (C).
Stats
Last Season: Inter 2-1 Empoli
Last 10 Head to Head: Inter have beaten Empoli in eight out of their last ten league meetings. The last time Empoli managed to get the better of the Nerazzurri was way back in April of 2006.
Player to Watch
Joao Miranda: known to be one of the de facto leaders in the squad, lots will be resting on the veteran Brazilian’s shoulders this week, not only in marshalling the defence, but also that his teammates put the Juve loss and its aftermath behind them.
Officials
Referee: Domenico Celi
Assistants: Dobosz, Schenone
Fourth Official: Crispo
Additional Assistants: Doveri, Di Paolo
Prediction & Authors Note
Prediction & scorers: Inter 2-0 Empoli with Eder and Barbosa scoring.
Author’s Note: the best case scenario in this game will be a professional no-nonsense display where Inter show maturity and the right mentality to compete at the highest level. A clean sheet will also be a very important accomplishments.
