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Match Facts:
Date: Tuesday, January 19th, 2016
Time: 2:45 ET/ 20:45 CET
Venue: Stadio San Paolo; Naples, Italy
After a couple of less than spectacular performances in the league, Mancini will now turn his attention to the Coppa Italia quarterfinals against high flying Napoli. A win could definitely help improve the team's morale by defeating the team that is now leading Serie A. In addition it would give the team a chance at some silverware while also getting a little revenge on last year's loss thanks to a late Higuain goal.
We can expect Mancini to rotate the squad for this match. Carrizo will most likely play in goal, while Ranocchia could get a rare appearance in the heart of the defense (though if he does we will all be praying that he does not make a mistake like last year that lead to that Higuain goal). Biabiany and Jovetic will also probably start the match while Montoya will be hoping he gets some playing time tomorrow. Given Melo's suspension that kept him out of the squad he will also probably play in the match. These are all guesses though and Mancini has surprised us on numerous occasions so it's really up in the air as to who will be in the starting 11.
Napoli come into this match in great form having won 3-1 against Sassuolo during the weekend. Higuain is scoring goals for fun at this point and is now at 20 goals in 20 matches. Though Sarri is expected to rotate his squad most would be surprised if the Argentine striker does not play tomorrow. Sarri and his players will be confident that they can beat Inter again this season, though they will probably hope to avoid the late tension that saw them clinging on in their 2-1 Serie A victory back in November.
Winning this game would be great. It's not going to be easy though and in order for Inter to win Mancini is going to have to make the right selections that allow for a free-flowing attack while also keeping defensive solidity, a balance that he is still struggling to find. Hopefully tomorrow he can begin to unlock the secret to unleash this squad's full potential.