Inter play host to Chievo at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza on Sunday in hopes of extending their five match unbeaten run, as they make a late push for a place in next season’s Europa League.
Roberto Mancini’s men appear to have finally put things together at the right time, sitting just three points behind Sampdoria for fifth place after seemingly having had their European ambitions dashed by the Blucerchiati after a 1-0 defeat on March 22.
Instead the Nerazzurri have responded with a run of five matches without defeat, closing the gap to the top half of the table after wins over Hellas Verona, Roma and Udinese in recent weeks.
Things will not be easy come Sunday however as Chievo enter the match on their own run of great form, collecting points from their last four matches, with the most important result being a midweek 1-0 victory over Cagliari that has mathematically secured their place in the Serie A for another season.
The two sides last squared off back in December with Inter collecting a tidy 2-0 victory, their first under Mancini after his return to the club, and if history is anything to go by between these two sides, the Flying Donkeys will need a massive effort to collect three points on Sunday.
Inter lead the all-time matchup with 15 victories from 25 matches, with Chievo having the better on just four occasions to go along with six draws.
While the Verona have side have defeated the Nerazzurri as recently as May 18, 2014 (2-1 at the Stadio Bentegodi) you have to go back to December 15, 2001 for the first and only time the Flying Donkeys were able to conquer the San Siro.
On that day, in their debut season in Serie A, goals from Bernardo Corradi and Massimo Marazzina were enough to cancel out Christian Vieri’s momentary equalizer and give Luigi Delneri and his players a famous victory at the Scala del Calcio.
Since then Inter have dominated proceedings with eight wins from 11 matches in Milan, but with the Nerazzurri having failed to make the San Siro a fortress this season (six wins in 16 matches), Maran and his players will be hoping to spring a surprise come Sunday.
Mancini can count on a mostly full strength squad as the only players out of action are long term absentees Jonathan, Dodo, Zdravko Kuzmanovic, Marco Andreolli and Hugo Campagnaro.
Andrea Ranocchia and Juan Jesus return from suspension and are expected to start, while Marcelo Brozovic looks set to replace Mateo Kovacic in the starting lineup.
On the other side Maran will be without Ervin Zukanovic, with Nicolas Frey the favourite to start at leftback in his absence as the 51-year-old tactician is expected to field the same lineup that proved victorious against Cagliari.
Form Guide: Inter (L-D-W-D-W-W), Chievo (W-L-W-D-D-W)
Expected Starting XIs
Inter: Handanovic; D’Ambrosio, Ranocchia, Vidic, Juan Jesus; Guarin, Medel, Brozovic; Hernanes; Icardi, Palacio.
Chievo: Bizzarri; Schelotto, Gamberini, Cesar, Frey; Birsa, Radovanovic, Izco, Hetemaj; Paloschi, Meggiorini.
