Inter Milan vs Torino: Match Preview

After two weeks without Inter Milan taking the pitch, club football returns for Antonio Conte’s men on Sunday. For Inter, a late equalizer for Atalanta back on November 8th and the run of shaky form since October’s international break have certainly left a bad taste in the mouths of everyone at the club. With plenty of players on international duty scoring and playing at a high level, there will be an influx of confidence into a squad that has lacked it in front of goal lately. The Nerazzurri will kick off a run of 10 matches in the next 32 days at home against Torino. This will be a crucial stretch of the season, and Inter will be looking to start it with a much needed win.

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This season has not been very kind to Torino so far. The Marco Giampaolo experiment in Turin has not taken off, leaving Torino in 17th place on the table with only one win from their first seven league matches, level on points with Genoa, who sit 18th and in the relegation zone. Their 16 goals against this season is third worst in the league, better than only Crotone and Benevento so far. Torino’s main threats in attack are Simone Verdi and usual suspect Andrea Belotti. Former Inter players Federico Bonazzoli and Cristian Ansaldi also make up the ranks of Giampaolo’s team, both will undoubtedly be looking to take any chance to sting their former club.

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Inter will be bolstered by the full return of top scorer Romelu Lukaku, who scored two goals for Belgium against Christian Eriksen’s Denmark on Wednesday in the UEFA Nations League. While other Inter players, including Lautaro Martinez, Arturo Vidal, Achraf Hakimi, Nicolo Barella, and Alessandro Bastoni, put in some standout international performances, the loss of Marcelo Brozovic to positive COVID-19 diagnosis while with Croatia will make for a big loss in the midfield. Aleksandar Kolarov will also be out for a few weeks after contracting COVID while training with Serbia. Christian Eriksen will presumably be given more playing time in the absence of the Brozovic for the next few weeks. The elusive Stefano Sensi may also return as early as Sunday’s match.

Previous Results

0-3 (A) - 23/11/2019

3 - 1 (H) 13/7/2020

Predicted Starting XIs

INTER (3-4-1-2): Handanovic; Skriniar, de Vrij, Bastoni; Hakimi, Gagliardini, Barella, Perisic; Eriksen; Lukaku, Lautaro

TORINO (4-3-1-2): Sirigu; Vojvoda, Bremer, Lyanco, Rodriguez; Linetty, Rincon, Meite; Lukic; Belotti, Verdi

Prediction: Inter 2-0 Torino

The momentum Inter will being in from the squad’s great international performances will be too much for Torino to contain. The first choice backline of Skriniar, de Vrij, and Bastoni will begin to hit their midseason stride of last year again while Lukaku and Lautaro should fit right back in together up top. Also, watch out for Eriksen to maybe begin to pick up his performances as he’s given another run of matches.