Coppa Italia is back with a banger as the first of the two semifinals will see Juventus hosting Inter at the Allianz Stadium in the 248th edition of the Derby d’Italia.
The two teams faced off right before the international break with Juventus winning 1-0 away at San Siro thanks to a Filip Kostic goal.
The memory of that loss is still vivid for the Nerazzurri and the situation got even worst for Inter as they’ve lost last Saturday against Fiorentina in what have been their third consecutive defeat in Serie A.
Because of this poor streak of results, rumors about a potential firing for coach Simone Inzaghi, either during or at the end of this season, are getting louder everyday.
On the other hand Juventus are going through a special moment as they’ve lost only one of the last 13 games they have played across all competitions, winning eight of the last nine.
Results from their last five matches in all competitions:
Juventus
W W W W W
Inter
L L D L W
Team News
Federico Chiesa is fully fit and he’ll back for Juventus but as announced by coach Massimiliano Allegri in the press conference, he won’t be starting the game.
Angel Di Maria is likely to be back in the starting line-up for the first time since the home game against Freiburg in Europa League back on March 9th.
Dusan Vlahovic is the favourite over Moise Kean to get the other spot in the front-line with Arkadiusz Milik starting from the bench.
Leonardo Bonucci and Paul Pogba will both miss the game due to injury, with the latter who could start training with the squad from Wednesday.
Inter can count on Federico Dimarco, who missed the game against Fiorentina due a minor injury. He’s in contention with Robin Gosens for the starting spot on the left.
One of the few changes expected in the line-up from the last Serie A game against Fiorentina could see Samir Handanovic take André Onana’s spot in goal.
As for the front-line, Lautaro Martinez is expected to start the game after being on the bench last Saturday with Romelu Lukaku and Edin Dzeko in contention for the last remaining spot.
Predicted XIs
Juventus (3-5-1-1): Perin; Gatti, Bremer, Danilo; De Sciglio, Fagioli, Locatelli, Rabiot, Kostic; Di Maria, Vlahovic.
Inter (3-5-2): Handandovic; Darmian, Acerbi, Bastoni; D’Ambrosio, Mkhitaryan, Brozovic, Barella, Gosens; Lautaro Martinez, Dzeko.
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Andrea Agostinelli I GIFN
