Inter v Napoli – Preview: Fight for Europe continues for both sides

Date: 15th April 2016 at 1:44pm
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napoli interInter will host Napoli on Saturday night at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza in Milan as they both look to seal their spots in European competition next season.

The Nerazzurri go into this game having won three of their last five games, including the 1-0 over Frosinone in the previous round of Serie A action. They currently sit fourth in the league table with 58 points after 32 matches and they are six points away from a Champions League spot.

A 3-0 victory against Hellas Verona was the Partenopei’s fourth win in five games and they sustain their slim Scudetto hopes as the margin between Juventus and them remains at six points. They won without star striker Gonzalo Higuain but Manolo Gabbiadini showed that he was an able replacement by opening the scoring.

Napoli won the previous encounter between the two sides 2-1 in Naples; Higuain netted a brace in that match while Adem Ljajic scored a consolation goal for the Biscione. It has been more than three years since Inter last defeated the Partenopei in the league, with a 2-1 win at home in December 2012.

With no injuries and suspensions to worry about, Inter coach Roberto Mancini will have a full quota of players to select from but he is still expected to make changes to his team despite the Frosinone victory. Alex Telles is likely to be dropped for Yuto Nagatomo and Rodrigo Palacio could partner Mauro Icardi in attack instead of Stevan Jovetic.

Higuain will still be out for Napoli, having served one game out of his four-match ban but otherwise the Partenopei are close to full strength. Kalidou Koulibaly is expected to return to the starting line-up in place of Vlad Chiriches after serving a one-game suspension and Allan should be back in the midfield after David Lopez took his spot against Hellas Verona.

Form Guide: Inter (W-W-D-L-W) Napoli (W-W-W-L-W)

Inter: Handanovic; Nagatomo, Miranda, Murillo, D’Ambrosio; Biabiany, Medel, Brozovic, Perisic; Icardi, Palacio

Napoli: Reina; Hysaj, Albiol, Koulibaly, Ghoulam; Allan, Jorginho, Hamsik; Callejon, Gabbiadini, Insigne

 

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