After having picked up the title of the only Italian side to miss out of European knockout football this season, Inter travel to Cagliari to try and keep their domestic form going. Match tomorrow Sunday at 12:30 CET

With Inter and Antonio Conte still licking their wounds after the midweek disappointment, they head south to Cagliari to take on the Isolani in what might prove to be another very important game in the season.

Inter face up against a typical Eusebio Di Francesco (EDF) side who have performed rather well this season. EDF plays a form of his usual 4-3-3 with Joao Pedro and the resurgent and recovered Leonardo Pavoletti being the main threats on the break.

In typical EDF fashion, their leaky defense and stop-start form seems to be letting them down, but they are a quality side with the ability to trouble anyone on the break.

Conte is expected to rotate his players quite a bit for this match; resting all of Nicolo Barella, Ashraf Hakimi, Ashley Young and Lautaro Martinez.

He will probably use Christian Eriksen as the main orchestrator of his attacks, albeit the Dane not having worked very well alongside Marcelo Brozovic when the pair were tried together a few times this calendar year.

Conte has been criticized for not having a plan B after the midweek draw, and knowing the Italian’s stubbornness, it will probably galvanize him further into not changing anything in terms of tactics for the match. Which might be all the better considering how successful his pared down 3-5-2 module is domestically.

Inter cannot compromise on the three points, and so, must control their nerves during the match, seeing that the Nerazzurri seem to let their nerves get the better of them when the big games come along.

Team News

As mentioned above it seems like this will finally be the match where Nicolo Barella will be given some much deserved rest in favor of Christian Eriksen. The Dane will probably play alongside Roberto Gagliardini and Marcelo Brozovic, replacing the injured Arturo Vidal.

Probable Line-up (3-5-2): Handanovic (C); Skriniar, De Vrij, Bastoni; Darmian, Gagliardini, Brozovic, Eriksen; Perisic; Sanchez, Lukaku

Stats

Last Season: Cagliari 1 – 2 Inter.

Last 10 Head to Head: Inter hold a commanding lead in the head to head encounters with their hosts, with six wins for Inter to Cagliari’s three.

Keep an Eye on:

Romelu Lukaku: Much has been made of the big Belgian forward’s performance (or lack thereof) against Shakhtar midweek. The Inter talisman will be eager to put all this idle chatter to rest with a strong performance against Cagliari and continue the push in catching Milan.

Officials

Referee: Fabrizio Pasqua.

Assistants: Bindoni and Raspollini.

Fourth Official: Marinelli.

VAR: Doveri and Gallatini.

Prediction & Concluding Remarks

Prediction & scorers: Cagliari 0 – 2 Inter Lukaku to put on a show and win it for Inter.

Concluding remarks: This seems like another pivotal moment very early in the Inter season. Showing that they can recover from the midweek disappointment and continue challenging for the top of the table will be very important in the development of the side’s mentality.