Antonio Conte has a selection headache in defence for Inter’s match against Sassuolo, as explained by a report in the Italian media today.
Alessandro Bastoni will be suspended for the match against the Neroverdi after the centre-back picked up his fifth booking of the season in Saturday’s 1-0 win at Bologna.
Gazzetta.it said Aleksandar Kolarov would not be fit for the match at San Siro, while Stefan de Vrij is likely to start in the centre after recovering from COVID-19.
This leaves Andrea Ranocchia, Danilo D’Ambrosio and Matteo Darmian vying for the left-sided centre-back spot on Wednesday.
Ranocchia started Inter’s match at the Stadio Renato Dall’Ara at the weekend, but the report suggested he was the least likely to replace Bastoni because he would not be suited to playing alongside De Vrij, given they both lack pace.
D’Ambrosio and Darmian are therefore more suited to stand in for the 21-year-old, although both could also play at left wing-back if needed (like Darmian did at Bologna).
D’Ambrosio was Inter’s last player to recover from COVID-19 and had to train apart from his teammates yesterday while he awaited clearance to re-join the group.
The 32-year-old was mostly asymptomatic throughout his quarantine at home however, and kept up his fitness levels with exercises and running drills.
Roberto Gagliardini is favourite to replace Marcelo Brozovic, who is also suspended on Wednesday.
