It’s the Derby d’Italia time as Juventus host Inter at the Juventus Stadium on Sunday night in Serie A, to get quickly back to winning ways.
The Bianconeri come from two consecutive draws, and if the 2-2 with Bayern Munich in the Champions League is not a bad result, the 0-0 in Bologna last Friday was disappointing, interrupting the 15 wins in a row streak. Napoli did not make the most of it, though, and Massimiliano Allegri can still enjoy being top of the league.
Roberto Mancini, meanwhile, beat Sampdoria 3-1 to maintain the fifth spot in the table behind Roma and Fiorentina and bounce back after the last minute loss in Florence. The Nerazzurri aren’t in their best moment of form though as they collected only eight points in their last six games, winning only against the Blucerchiati and Chievo.
The last time Juve and Inter met in Turin the Italian Champions gave their opponents no chance, winning the first leg of the Coppa Italia semi final 3-0. The last Serie A Derby d’Italia ended with a goalless draw, whilst last season Juve won at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, but it ended 1-1 at the Stadium.
A result that would not be too bad for Mancini, seeing the not particularly great moment his team are in. Geoffrey Kondogbia will start, after his ban was reduced to one game on appeal, whilst the only absentee will be Marcelo Brozovic, also for a ban. Mancini should play pretty much the same eleven who beat Samp, apart from Gary Medel instead of Felipe Melo, with Jonathan Biabiany confirmed and Eder and Mauro Icardi leading the attack.
Allegri on the other hand will go back to his preferred three at the back, as Giorgio Chiellini and Alex Sandro have recovered from their injuries. Who is not available is Claudio Marchisio, alongside Kwadwo Asamoah and obviously Martin Caceres, out for the rest of the season. Hernanes should therefore start in the middle, with Sandro on the left and Mario Mandzukic being preferred over Alvaro Morata up front.
Recent form: Juventus (W-W-W-W-D-D) Inter (L-W-D-L-W)
Expected starting XI’s
Juventus (3-5-2): Buffon; Barzagli, Bonucci, Chiellini; Lichtsteiner, Khedira, Hernanes, Pogba, Alex Sandro; Mandzukic, Dybala.
Inter (4-4-2): Handanovic; Nagatomo, Murillo, Miranda, D’Ambrosio; Biabiany, Medel, Kondogbia, Perisic; Icardi, Eder.
