Inter boss Inzaghi shrugs off Allegri´s ´favourites´ tag ahead of Derby d´Italia

Inter were labelled as favourites to win the Serie A title by Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri, and Simone Inzaghi took the compliment in his stride.

The Nerazzurri host Juventus in the Derby d’Italia on Sunday, with three points separating the sides in the standings.

Inter are behind Milan and a Napoli side who have made a flying start to the campaign, winning all eight matches.

However, Allegri insisted in his pre-match news conference on Saturday that Inter were still the favourites, despite having lost coach Antonio Conte, star striker Romelu Lukaku and full-back Achraf Hakimi over the close season.

Inzaghi responded by accepting Allegri’s flattery, though the Inter boss does not agree with his Juventus counterpart.

“The championship is at the beginning,” Inzaghi told a news conference. “It’s a very important match between two very competitive teams.

“If [Allegri] says so, a coach I respect so much, it’s nice. I could say the same about them, Napoli, Milan and more.

“We want to be favourites and we will try to do our best.”

Juve come into Sunday’s fixture on the back of a four-match winning run in Serie A, while Inter lost 3-1 at Lazio last time out in the league.

The Turin giants are also expected to be able to welcome back forward Paulo Dybala, who has been out for almost a month due to injury.

“Of course, Juventus are our historical rivals,” Inzaghi said. “We will have to do well to make the match ours. They have recovered all their players, they have excellent results and we must give them great attention.

“We have always held our ground and lost only two games despite playing well, even deserving a different result.

“The progress is good, we have slowed down for a moment, but we are aware and play excellent football.”