Inter Milan could take another step towards this year's Serie A title when they host struggling Empoli at San Siro on Easter Monday.
Simone Inzaghi's team were denied an 11th consecutive league victory against Napoli before the international break, and the Nerazzurri aim for success against the Azzurri in gameweek 30 to return to winning ways on their turf.
Match preview
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Inter's last game at San Siro was marred by Francesco Acerbi's alleged racist incident involving Juan Jesus, but the 36-year-old defender was ultimately cleared on a lack of evidence, making him available for selection on Monday.
Inzaghi hopes his team get back to winning after that 1-1 tie against Napoli ended the club's 11-match winning streak in Serie A and a nine-game run of success on their turf since Bologna (2-2) denied them maximum points in October.
Having suffered a disappointing Champions League exit to Atletico Madrid and exited the Coppa Italia last December, claiming a 20th Scudetti is their principal target in the closing weeks.
Barring a collapse by the table-topping side, a second star is inevitable for Inzaghi's men, who hold a 14-point advantage over second-placed Milan, with Juventus in third, 17 points adrift at the time of writing.
Success on Monday is expected, even if Inzaghi's team were beaten in the corresponding fixture last season (1-0 in January 2023), but this Inter iteration are undoubtedly a different beast, and the home support will demand maximum points.
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Empoli's appointment of Davide Nicola inspired an immediate turnaround in results — three wins and as many draws — but the Blues have been brought back to earth with three defeats on the trot.
The Azzurri have not scored in those losses, and every defeat has been by a lone goal, pointing to the 17th-placed side's battling qualities, which bode well in a relegation battle.
While defeats to Milan and Bologna could be excused because of their top-four standing in Serie A, losing 1-0 to Cagliari possibly still rankles Empoli as it was an undoubted relegation six-pointer.
A fourth consecutive league defeat will be far from disastrous, given the Nerazzurri's position and the precedent in this fixture of the Azzurri winning just two of the previous 20 (17 losses) in the top flight.
That outcome could see Nicola's men head into Monday's clash already in the relegation zone if Sassuolo somehow secure a surprise win over Udinese before kickoff at San Siro.
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A late decision will be made on Yann Sommer, who suffered a reported ankle sprain on international duty with Switzerland, possibly meaning Emil Audero starts his second Serie A game for the champions-elect.
Stefan de Vrij, Marko Arnautovic and Juan Cuadrado are not expected to play any part because of different injuries.
Federico Dimarco is the top goal-contributing defender in Serie A — four goals and six assists — and the wide defender will back himself to add to that tally against the strugglers. However, Lautaro Martinez aims to end a mini two-match drought without finding the net to add to the 23 league goals in 23-24.
Inter have no suspended players for this round, but Benjamin Pavard is one booking away from a ban.
Youssef Maleh will not be involved in Empoli's visit to the league leaders, having received his 10th booking this term in the Bologna reverse.
Tyronne Ebuehi is out for the season with an ACL injury, while Alberto Grassi and Ardian Ismajli are expected to miss Monday's game through injury.
M'Baye Niang's three goals in six matches since signing for the Azzurri make him the away side's outlet for goals against Inzaghi's team.
Inter Milan possible starting lineup:
Audero; Pavard, Acerbi, Bastoni; Darmian, Barella, Calhanoglu, Mkhitaryan, Dimarco; Thuram, Martinez
Empoli possible starting lineup:
Caprile; Bereszynski, Walukiewicz, Luperto, Pezzella; Cambiaghi, Zurkowski, Fazzini, Kovalenko, Gyasi; Niang
We say: Inter Milan 3-0 Empoli
While you cannot put it past Nicola to pull off a shock result at Inter, especially after Inzaghi had many players away on international duty during the hiatus, the expected champions should claim their 25th win in Serie A and take another step towards a 20th league crown.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
