After partially cementing their berth in the Champions League final in their last match in the first leg of the semi-finals against Milan, Serie A action returns to the San Siro as Inter will aim to increase their chances of finishing top four when they face Sassuolo tonight.
Goals from Edin Dzeko and Henrikh Mkhitaryan secured a dominating first-leg win for Inter as they were capable to obstruct their neighbourhood rivals Milan from scoring. After securing the Supercoppa Italian earlier this year and having secured a berth in the Coppa Italia finals, the Nerazzurri hopes to add another piece of silverware to their accolades this season and now after the first-leg in the semi-finals, they will be the master of their own fate in the finals, should they survive the second-leg.
Simone Inzaghi’s men are in a formidable scoring form recently as they have netted a total of 20 times across their last 7 games in all competitions. Their most recent win in the Serie A came at the Stadio Olimpico when goals from Federico Dimarco and Romelu Lukaku did the job for the visitors to further cement their top-four finish hopes.
Meanwhile, Sassuolo have steered clear of any potential relegation threats for this season and apart from tonight’s clash, they do have a few favourable fixtures coming up to present them an opportunity to climb up the league.
The Neroverdi have fared well in the San Siro in recent times as they inflicted a 5-2 defeat to Milan in January but they have only won three of the last eight league matches against Inter.
After winning three games in a row which included a vital 1-0 victory against Juventus, Sassuolo were rocked by a 2-0 defeat to Lazio and in their last match, they could only muster a draw to Bologna. Alessio Dionisi will hope to end this season on a high and the test against the Nerazzurri will prove to be crucial for the remaining fixtures.
Results from their last five matches across all competitions
Inter:
W W W W W
Sassuolo:
D L W W W
Team News
Manager Simone Inzaghi is expected to shuffle his starting line-up heavily so as to avoid any unfortunate injuries for their upcoming contest against neighbourhood rivals Milan in the Champions League semi-finals second leg.
Milan Skriniar and Robin Gosens are expected to be sidelined for this match while Danilo D’Ambrosio is tilted to start.
Lautaro Martinez is predicted to be benched as Romelu Lukaku and Joaquin Correa are the players who will pair upfront, maintaining the usual 3-5-2 formation.
As for Sassuolo, they will have striker Andrea Pinamonti back from suspension. Armand Lauriente is expected to be back on the starting line-up benching Nedim Bajrami.
Domenico Berardi will keep his starting place.
Predicted XIs
Inter (3-5-2): Onana; D’Ambrosio, De Vrij, Bastoni; Darmian, Barella, Brozovic, Calhanoglu, Dimarco; Correa, Lukaku
Sassuolo (4-3-3): Consigli; Toljan, Ferrari, Erlic, Rogerio; Frattesi, Lopez, Henrique; Berardi, Pinamonti, Lauriente
Trambak Bhattacherjee | GIFN
