After a disappointing home draw to Sassuolo, Inter travel to Turin to try and go back to winning ways in a tricky match against Torino. Match on Sunday at 18:00 CET

Despite having won only twice in over two and a half months, Torino possess the squad, and in ex-Inter coach Walter Mazzarri, and the tactician to make any visitor’s journey to the Stadio Olimpico a tough one. Mazzarri has molded his Toro into a team that truly manifests his vision as a manager. Torino play the trademark Mazzarri 3-4-2-1/3-5-2 formations, prioritizing defensive solidity and suffocating the midfield over attacking prowess.

Pivotal to achieving their primary objectives are the performances of midfield workhorses Soualiho Meite and Tomas Rincon. Thankfully the former will be suspended for the match and so ex-Interista full-back Cristian Ansaldi will probably tuck into the midfield to cover his team-mates absence. Needless to say, Torino do also possess quite a threat going forward. Their attacking trio of Andrea Belotti, Iago Falque and the much maligned Simone Zaza possess plenty of Serie A experience and talent to trouble Inter’s defenses.

To take home the three points, Inter must first and foremost show plenty more desire, running and exertion than they did last week against Sassuolo. Mauro Icardi must regain his end-of-year mobility and desire to participate in the build up, while whoever is deployed in the trequartista position will need to offer themselves to their team-mates more often than Joao Mario did last week and intelligently move the ball at a much higher tempo than last week. The final piece of the attacking puzzle will be unlocking Marcelo Brozovic. Brozo plays his best when he has more than one pass to pick and choose from when launching his through balls, the onus will be on Matteo Politano, the misfiring Ivan Perisic and Matias Vecino to make those runs between the Torino midfield double pivot and their three central defenders.

It would be unreasonable to expect much champagne football in this match, Walter Mazzarri sides rarely participate in vintage beautiful game performances. Expect the match to be tight, gritty and determined by individual incidents where the hungrier side comes out on top.

Team News

With no injuries save for that of Keita Balde, and no suspensions to deal with, Spaletti can pretty much select his strongest starting eleven. With Joao Mario having a disappointing outing last week, Interisti might be very close to seeing Radja Nainggolan finally perform at his best from the start in this match.

Probable Inter line-up: (4-2-3-1): Handanovic; D’Ambrosio, de Vrij, Skriniar, Asamoah; Vecino, Brozovic; Perisic, Nainggolan, Politano; Icardi.

Stats

Last Season: Torino 1 – 0 Inter

Last 10 Head to Head: The record is perfectly even between the two sides over the last ten matches. Both sides have won three matches a piece, with four draws completing the series.

Keep an Eye on

Mauro Icardi: With wife and manager and general public appearance tornado Wanda Nara making some eyebrow raising remarks to the press regarding Maurito’s contract renewal, the captain will have to continue to demonstrate his ability to keep off the pitch shenanigans from affecting his performances sul campo.

Officials

Referee: Fabio Maresca.
Assistants: Valerini and Schenone.
Fourth Official: Piccinini.
VAR Officials: Mazzoleni and Mondin.

Prediction & concluding remarks

Prediction & scorers: Torino 1-2 Inter with Icardi and Nainggolan scoring.

Concluding remarks: On the face of it,  it appears that Inter possess all the requirements to take care of business against Toro. Inter have a stronger squad, a better manager and are on a better run of form. however, as has been the case in almost all recent Januaries, Inter’s biggest hurdle in taking home the three points will be their own selves. This match will probably be determined by will to win and desire more than tactics and joga bonito.