Inter begin an explosive ten match dash to the end of the season by hosting Champions League competitors Lazio. Match tomorrow Sunday at 20:45 CET.

Inter’s run to the end of the season seems to be the toughest among the four teams competing for the last two Chamions League spots (Assuming Napoli have booked theirs) and it starts against a team with much intertwined history in end of season drama in Lazio. Thankfully Luciano Spalletti’s side seem to always play up to the competition.

Team News

The international break has not been kind to Spalletti; injuries have ruled out half of his central defensive unit in Stefan de Vrij and a thigh issue will keep Lautaro Martinez out of the squad as well. Radja Nainggolan is probably going to miss the call up although reports indicate that the Belgian midfielder is close to a fill recovery and just does not want to risk re-aggravating the injury by rushing back into action.

Unsurprisingly the majority of bandwidth coming out of Appiano has been dominated by Icardi’s return to training with the squad. It appears that the Argentine will be called up for the match but unlikely to start the match.

Probable Inter line-up (4-2-3-1): Handanovic (C); D’Ambrosio, Miranda, Skriniar, Dalbert; Vecino, Brozovic; Perisic, Joao Mario, Politano; Keita

Stats

Last Season: Inter 0 – 0 Lazio

Last 10 Head to Head: Surprisingly Inter have the clear upper hand in the head to head department with six wins for the Nerazzurri to Lazio’s two wins. Interestingly, Inter have a better win ratio in Rome than that for home matches.

Keep an Eye on

Mauro Icardi: You can bet your entire life savings that all eyes and live broadcast cameras will be focused on Mauro Icardi, whether he’s on the bench or part of the starting line-up. After finally having agreed a truce with Beppe Marotta, the striker has at long last resumed full training with the squad and will be available for selection for the first time in over a month. Although unlikely to make a start for the squad, chances are that he’ll be used off the bench.

Officials

Referee: Paolo Mazzoleni.

Assistants: Bindoni and Vivenzi.

Fourth Official: Abbattista.

VAR Assistants: Rocchi and Di Liberatore.

Prediction & Concluding Remarks

Prediction & scorers: Inter 1-0 Lazio with Icardi making the difference.

Concluding remarks: It is always difficult to predict a squad’s condition and mental state after an international break. On the one hand, the euphoria of the derby win has probably worn off the squad, but on the other hand, the break has allowed Inter to mentally settle back into third place and thus face Lazio with more calmness and serenity than the frantic mess prior to the derby. Expect a tight match determined by individual incidents.

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