Saturday’s Serie A action closes out at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza as title-bidding Inter and relegation contenders Hellas Verona face each other. The home side’s Scudetto hopes are relatively exaggerated in light of recent events.
Inter again took a gamble defending a narrow halftime lead at Monza last time out. And it didn’t pay off once again as Raffaele Palladino’s team hauled back a 2-1 deficit deep into stoppage time, with Denzel Dumfries’ late own-goal condemning the Nerazzurri to an underwhelming 2-2 draw.
Simone Inzaghi’s men had to play catch-up on Parma in midweek Coppa Italia action. However, that panned out well, as Lautaro Martinez and Francesco Acerbi helped Inter claim a nerve-shredding 2-1 extra-time triumph on home turf.
Back to Serie A, where they trail table-topping Napoli by a whopping ten points, Inter can ill-afford another slip-up if they’re to cling on to their faint title hopes. However, hot relegation candidates Verona will have their say on Saturday after finally returning to winning ways in Serie A.
Darko Lazovic struck twice within 25 minutes to hand Marco Zaffaroni’s men a morale-boosting 2-0 home win over Cremonese on Monday. Having secured their first top-flight victory since the start of September, only five days after holding Torino to a 1-1 draw, the visitors may be in a buoyant mood.
Preview
Inter
Since a 2-1 defeat to Jose Mourinho’s Roma in October, Inter have clocked up four consecutive Serie A victories at home, most recently dispatching pacesetters Napoli 1-0 on January 4. With three of those four wins yielding a clean sheet, the hosts’ opener may put the game to bed.
Inter have suffered just three defeats across their last 40 Serie A encounters against sides with 25+ points fewer than them at the beginning of the matchday (W30, D7). On top of that, the Nerazzurri have been a bogey team for Verona, going unbeaten in their last 22 league showdowns (W18, D4).
Player to Watch: Joaquin Correa
Injury-plagued forward Joaquin Correa has fallen out of favor at Meazza, but he could be a difference-maker, provided Inzaghi gives him a chance. The Argentine has bagged three goals in his last four Serie A outings against Verona. So he could be gunning for a prominent role.
Hellas Verona
Verona’s mini-revival at the beginning of the new calendar year has seen them avoid defeat in both Serie A fixtures in 2023 following a run of ten straight league losses down the final stretch of 2022. Indeed, the Gialloblu face the prospect of winning back-to-back Serie A matches for the first time in a year!
While keeping Inter at bay would be a clinical factor, it’s worth noting that Zaffaroni’s men haven’t registered two Serie A clean sheets in a row since September 2020. The narrative is unlikely to change this weekend, considering Verona have never tasted success away to Inter in Serie A despite being handed 31 attempts (D11, L20).
Player to Watch: Darko Lazovic
Following his match-winning performance against Cremonese, Lazovic should be full of confidence, even though he has drawn a blank in all four previous Serie A appearances against Inter. It’s also worth mentioning he lost each of those four matches.
Inter vs Hellas Verona Potential Lineups
Inter (3-5-2): Andre Onana; Milan Skriniar, Stefan de Vrij, Alessandro Bastoni; Matteo Darmian, Roberto Gagliardini, Kristjan Asllani, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Federico Dimarco; Lautaro Martinez, Edin Dzeko.
Hellas Verona (3-4-2-1): Lorenzzo Montipo; Pawel Dawidowicz, Isak Hien, Federico Ceccherini; Fabio Depaoli, Ivan Ilic, Adrien Tameze, Josh Doig; Darko Lazovic, Yayah Kallon; Milan Djuric.
Inter vs Hellas Verona Prediction
There’s no way Inter can afford to drop points here, and given history stats and Verona’s dreadful away league record this season (W0, D3, L5), that’s unlikely to happen.
We can envisage the home side’s clear-cut victory.
Prediction: Inter Win
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