With a lot to live up to after October’s eight-goal thriller, Serie A giants Juventus and Inter Milan will clash in Turin on Sunday evening.
While Juve come into the latest Derby d’Italia fresh from success in Europe, Inter are aiming to keep pace with Scudetto rivals Napoli.
Since staging a dramatic comeback to avoid defeat when the two Italian heavyweights last met, Juventus have fallen further behind old foes Inter in the Serie A standings, with last week’s win over lowly Como still leaving them outside the cherished Champions League places.
In the knockout playoff round of this season’s competition, the Bianconeri have been pitched against Dutch champions PSV Eindhoven, and their fight to reach the last 16 commenced on Tuesday evening.
After new boy Randal Kolo Muani had scored Juve’s late winner in Como, it was primavera graduate Samuel Mbangula who struck the killer blow against PSV, after Weston McKennie’s emphatic finish had been cancelled out by ex-Inter player Ivan Perisic.
Therefore, Thiago Motta’s men have a precious lead to take into next week’s return – but, first, the season’s second Derby d’Italia awaits them.
Serie A’s last undefeated home record will go on the line against the reigning champions, as Juventus aim to post three league wins on the spin for the first time since January 2024.
Across another sub-par campaign, they have drawn the joint-most home matches throughout Europe’s top five leagues, and more wins will be required if they are to overtake Lazio in the race for fourth place.
Heading in to Sunday’s showdown, perhaps the biggest concern for Motta – a former Inter midfielder – is that the visitors have scored a league-leading 17 goals from set pieces; meanwhile, his side have conceded the highest proportion of goals from such dead-ball situations (43%).
At least history will be on the hosts’ side, as Juventus lead the overall head-to-head by 39 wins and have lost just one of the teams’ last 11 league meetings in Turin.
Despite fumbling a two-goal lead in this term’s reverse fixture – a frantic 4-4 draw in Milan – Inter are unbeaten in three top-flight games against Juve, dating back to their defeat at the Allianz Stadium in November 2022.
October’s jaw-dropping contest featured an unlikely brace from Piotr Zielinski, as the Nerazzurri took control at San Siro before Kenan Yildiz struck twice in the last 20 minutes to leave Simone Inzaghi’s side stunned.
While Sunday’s hosts have been busy battling to progress from the Champions League playoffs, Inter enjoyed a rare midweek rest after cruising straight through to the last 16.
Last in action on Monday night, the Scudetto holders gained swift revenge on Fiorentina – who had just inflicted their second league defeat of the season – with Marko Arnautovic netting the decider in a 2-1 home win. That kept the pressure on Serie A leaders Napoli, as an absorbing title fight intensifies.
Inzaghi’s men are one point behind, with a faltering Atalanta BC side struggling to stay in the hunt, so it seems to be a two-horse race for first place.
Though Inter lost their last away game – going down 3-0 in Florence – they may believe a rare win in Turin is now up for grabs. Having scored more goals on the road than anyone else – and conceded the joint-fewest so far – confidence should be sky-high in the camp.
Never afraid to tinker – even with a winning team – Juventus boss Thiago Motta may make changes between two legs of a crucial Champions League tie, with Teun Koopmeiners, Khephren Thuram, Francisco Conceicao and midweek hero Samuel Mbangula all vying for promotion to the hosts’ starting XI.
Top scorer Dusan Vlahovic has been benched in recent weeks, so current first-choice Randal Kolo Muani will hope to extend his superb start to life in Italy. The latter’s tally of five goals in three games represents the best record of any new Serie A player this century.
Motta is still without his preferred back four, as Bremer, Pierre Kalulu, Juan Cabal and Andrea Cambiaso are all sidelined, while recent arrival Lloyd Kelly missed training due to illness and Douglas Luiz has been ruled out by another muscular problem.
Meanwhile, Inter’s main concern regards Marcus Thuram, who is the Nerazzurri’s leading league scorer – Khephren’s older brother faces a late fitness test after sustaining an ankle injury. Either Marko Arnautovic or Mehdi Taremi will stand in if required.
Thuram’s strike partner, captain Lautaro Martinez, needs one more goal to become the first foreign player in Inter history to hit double figures in six different Serie A campaigns.
With Denzel Dumfries suspended and Federico Dimarco rested, Matteo Darmian and Carlos Augusto started on either flank last time out, but those roles will be reversed on Sunday.
Juventus possible starting lineup:
Di Gregorio; Weah, Gatti, Veiga, Savona; Locatelli; Conceicao, Thuram, McKennie, Mbangula; Kolo Muani
Inter Milan possible starting lineup:
Sommer; Pavard, Acerbi, Bastoni; Dumfries, Barella, Calhanoglu, Mkhitaryan, Dimarco; Martinez, Thuram
Juventus 1-1 Inter Milan
Following a rare flurry of goals in this fixture – eight in less than 70 minutes at San Siro – a more circumspect game should play out this weekend.
Draw specialists Juventus would surely settle for a point that will stall Inter’s title charge, and their recent run of form suggests they could have turned a corner.
