Back to Serie A commitments following the midweek European fiasco, Inter play host to Torino at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza on Saturday. Only one point separates the sides ahead of the kick-off, which promises a keenly-contested upper-half-of-the-table fixture.
Following a morale-damaging 3-2 Derby della Madonnina defeat to Milan, Inter plummeted to another low-profile result. Simone Inzaghi’s opened the new Champions League season with a 2-0 home loss to record-time Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich. So the pressure is mounting on the ex-Lazio head coach as the Nerazzurri cannot catch a break these days.
With star striker Romelu Lukaku still unavailable for selection due to injury, Inter will welcome Torino weakened and out of steam. In complete contrast, the Granata will take the field in high spirits after racking up three wins from their opening five Serie A matches (D1, L1). Yet, don’t let their high-flying league start confuse you.
Indeed, each of Torino’s three top-flight victories came at the expense of newly-promoted sides. That might give Inter a glimmer of hope that they can overcome a rough spell of form that has seen them lose three of their last four outings across all competitions (W1). Without further ado, let’s skip to the preview.
Match Preview
Inter
A pair of high-scoring defeats to Milan and Lazio across their last three Serie A games (W1) sees Inter come into this round four points adrift of pacesetters Atalanta. Though they languish outside the top-four zone, Inzaghi’s men are still in the Scudetto picture, but they need to lift their level of performance as soon as possible.
Except for a hat-trick of triumphs versus lower-ranked sides, Inter have struggled to impress in high-profile contests. Therefore, Torino’s visit to Meazza may come in handy, with the Nerazzurri coming out victorious in their last three league meetings on home turf. That run includes a narrow 1-0 win in this corresponding fixture in 2021/22.
On top of that, Inzaghi’s men have turned Meazza into a stronghold. They have won all six previous home league matches via multi-goal margins, netting a whopping 18 goals in that span. Maintaining that scoring spree will be utterly in the hands of marquee forward Lautaro Martinez, who already has three Serie A goals to his name this term.
Torino
Torino dispatched Serie A newcomers Cremonese, Monza, and Lecce by single-goal margins across their opening five league games. However, a goalless home draw with Lazio alongside a 3-1 defeat at Atalanta suggests they have found it difficult tangling with perennial Serie A campaigners.
After West Ham United loanee Nikola Vlasic fired them to a hard-earned 1-0 home triumph over Lecce last weekend, Torino could win back-to-back Serie A matches for the first time since January. That could prove achievable for Ivan Juric’s team as they’ve registered four victories across their last five away league fixtures.
Vlasic may be the architect of Torino’s long-awaited success at Inter after scoring in his last three Serie A appearances for the Granata. It’s been six years since the visitors last conquered the Nerazzurri at Meazza, doing so in a 2-1 win in April 2016. So there’s no doubt they will take the field heavily motivated to stage an upset.
Team News
In addition to Lukaku, Inter boss Inzaghi won’t be able to call upon the services of Brazilian full-back Dalbert. But he will have an otherwise fully-fit squad for this encounter.
As for Torino, Aleksey Miranchuk, Mohamed Fares, and Samuele Ricci are ruled out with injuries.
Inter vs Torino Potential Line-ups
Inter Milan (3-5-2): Samir Handanovic; Milan Skriniar, Stefan de Vrij, Alessandro Bastoni; Denzel Dumfries, Nicolo Barella, Marcelo Brozovic, Hakan Calhanoglu, Matteo Darmian; Edin Dzeko, Lautaro Martinez.
Torino (3-4-3): Vanja Milinkovic-Savic; Koffi Djidji, Perr Schuurs, Ricardo Rodriguez; Ola Aina, Emirhan İlkhan, Karol Linetty, Mergim Vojvoda; Nikola Vlasic, Nemanja Radonjic, Antonio Sanabria.