With just one point from two matches, Inter’s start to the campaign has been underwhelming to say the least, the Nerazzurri head to Bologna to face Pippo Inzaghi’s side hoping to get their first win of the season. Kick-off tomorrow Saturday 18:00 CET.

Pippo Inzaghi’s Bologna may have had an even more disappointing opening pair of fixtures than Inter; an opening-day home loss to lowly SPAL followed by a lackluster draw against Frosinone mean that the elder Inzaghi will be giving his all to make sure his side can take something away from the match.

Luciano Spalletti’s situation isn’t far removed from that of his counterpart. That being said, Inter did have a pretty spectacular first half against Torino last week, and it was a mental shutdown of half of the second period that saw them squander away the three points and settle for a draw. And although a very tired cliché, but it does ring true here, it isn’t so much the actual result that’s a disappointment, it is the manner in which it happened. Inter’s malaise in the season opener against Sassuolo and in the second half against Torino are so reminiscent of the ghosts of seasons past, that one can’t help but wonder how Spalletti is still unable to fix these glaringly apparent problems with his squad.

One way the Italian sports dailies conjecture will be playing with a back three, thus relying on width from the wing backs and not needing his attacking wingers to play so far out wide, and so giving the side more presence in the box, something that was clearly lacking in the past two weeks. Another less likely scenario will he to play with both Lautaro Martinez and Mauro Icardi as out and out strikers, while Radja Nainggolan features as their trequartista. The latter scenario probably means that Ivan Perisic will have to be sacrificed, and with Kwadwo Asamoah out injured, the left flank would then be in deep trouble. Whatever the solution is, Spalletti will have to find it fast as it seems important to make sure the side has at least one win before the international break.

Team News

The big boost for Spalletti is the return of Radja Nainggolan from injury. The Belgian attacking midfielder will be a sight for sore eyes in a front line that seemed devoid of ideas at times. Sadly however Inter will be without the services of Ghanian wide-man Kwadwo Asamoah who picked up a knock against Torino last week.

Probable Inter line-up: (4-2-3-1) Handanovic; Dalbert, DiVrij, Skriniar, Vrsaljko; Borozovic, Vecino; Perisic, Nainggolan, Politano; Icardi (C).

Stats

Last Season: Bologna 1-1 Inter

Last 10 Head to Head: Inter have a clear advantage in terms of H2H results, winning 5 to the hosts’ solitary win in the last ten league matches between them.

Keep an Eye on

Radja Nainggolan: The Ninja must have been chomping on the bit watching his teammates make a hash of the attack last week. All signs point to Radja being the missing piece in Spaletti’s attacking strategy and it will be great to see the full front line in action.

Officials

Referee: Marco Di Bello.

Assistants: Alassio & LoCicero.

Fourth Official: Abbattista.

VAR Officials: Irrati & Vivenzi.

Prediction & concluding remarks’

Prediction & scorers: Bologna 0-1 Inter with the Ninja scoring.

Concluding remarks: With the Champions League draw giving Inter a very tough group to get out of, Inter will, more than ever, need the boost of a win to reignite everyone’s imagination and passion about the current project.

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