Friday, March 29, 2024

Prediction: Inter Milan vs Monza

Veselin Trajkovic in Free Soccer Predictions 14 Apr 2023

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Verdict: Total goals under 2.5

Best odds: 21/20

Bookmaker: 888sport

Inter Milan will welcome Monza to the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza in Milan on Saturday evening, within the 30th round of the season in the Serie A. At the moment, it can’t be said that the point there to be won bear the same level of significance for these two teams, but the game should be an interesting one nonetheless.

Inter Milan

It was all about the first leg of their Champions League quarterfinal clash against an in-form Benfica earlier this week for Inter, and the Nerazzurri did well to end it with a two-goal advantage as Nicolo Barella broke the deadlock with a fine header and Romelu Lukaku converted a late penalty to put the finishing touch. Inter are now obviously big favourites to book a place in the semifinals of UEFA’s elite club competition.

As for their results in the Italian top flight, however, they have been largely underwhelming in recent weeks, and the shaky run has seen Simone Inzaghi’s team drop out of the top four for the time being. At the moment, Inter are fifth with 51 points, one less than city rivals AC Milan in fourth, and two less than AS Roma in third. Atalanta are close behind on 48, and Juventus are a bit further down on 44 after being hit with a 15-point deduction. Lazio appear to be leaving this conversation, being well on their way to finish second with 61 points after their triumph away to Spezia on Friday.

There’s obviously a lot to play for in this race as all these teams seek to qualify for next season’s Champions League. Inter could still win a trophy this season even if they don’t go all the way in Europe, having drawn against Juventus in the first leg of the Coppa Italia semifinals.

Inter’s last-six run in all competitions includes a goalless draw away to Porto in the second leg of the Champions League round of 16, a 0-1 home defeat to Juventus in the Serie A, a 0-1 home defeat to Fiorentina, the 1-1 draw away to Juventus in the cup, a 1-1 draw away to Salernitana, and the 0-2 win away to Benfica, obviously their only triumph within that span. There’s a lot of work for Inzaghi and his men to do.

Team News

Inzaghi won’t have defender Milan Skriniar (back injury) or midifelder Hakan Calhanoglu (adductor problem) at his disposal, but defender Danilo D’Ambrosio is back having served a red card suspension.

Andre Onana will be in goal. Stefan de Vrij is likely to be accompanied by Alessandro Bastoni and Matteo Darmian in the back line of three, with Marcelo Brozovic providing protection from the midfield. Barella will be there, doing the work between the boxes, as will Henrikh Mkhitaryan in the absence of Calhanoglu. Denzel Dumfries will be on the right flank, and Robin Gosens is expected to start on the left ahead of Federico Dimarco. Lautaro Martinez is expected to make way for Joaquin Correa in attack, with Lukaku starting ahead of Edin Dzeko this time.

Monza

Having earned the Serie A status ahead of the season, Monza were obviously looking to survive in the Italian top flight and it’s fair to say that they’re slowly closing in on that goal. Sitting 13th right now with 35 points, they’ve formed a gap 13 points wide between them and Hellas Verona in the relegation zone, with Empoli (32), Salernitana (29), Lecce (27) and Spezia (26) currently inside it. There’s no realistic chance for Raffaele Palladino’s team to get into Europe, which only means they aren’t under any kind of pressure at this point.

Monza have been gathering a point after a point to get this comfortable, though their last-six run in all competitions began with an underwhelming 3-0 defeat away to Salernitana. It also includes a 2-1 home win over Empoli, a 1-1 draw away to Verona, a 1-1 draw at home against Cremonese, a 0-2 defeat at home at the hands of Lazio, and a 2-2 draw away to Udinese.

Team News

Palladino will be without the services of striker Dany Mota, but apart from that, he should have every important member of the squad with him at the Meazza.

Michele Di Gregorio will be betwen the posts, with the trio of Armando Izzo, Pablo Mari and Marlon in the back line. Stefano Sensi and Nicolo Rovella are expected to play in the middle of the park, with Carlos Augusto and Patrick Ciurria out wide. Captain Matteo Pessina will be playing closest to the two forwards, Gianlica Caprari and Andrea Petagna.

Conclusion

There’s no real doubt about Inter being very likely to put a stop to their poor Serie A run with a win here, but probably not with too many goals in the net of Di Gregorio as they prepare for the second leg against Benfica.

Verdict: Total goals under 2.5

Best odds: 21/20

Bookmaker: 888sport

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Veselin Trajkovic


Vesko is a football writer that likes to observe the game for what it is, focusing on teams, players and their roles, formations, tactics, rather than stats. He follows the English Premier League closely, Liverpool FC in particular. His articles have been published on seven different football blogs.

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