Frosinone will be looking to boost their Serie A survival hopes when they welcome champions Inter Milan to the Stadio Benito Stirpe on Friday night.
The Canaries are seeking revenge against the Nerazzurri after they suffered a 2-0 defeat in the reverse fixture at San Siro back in November.
Match preview
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Frosinone's six-game unbeaten run in Serie A has given themselves a fighting chance to avoid the drop, although a goalless stalemate with Empoli last weekend represents their fifth draw during this run.
Despite boasting 17 shots on goal, the Canaries were unable to breach Empoli's resilient backline and had to settle for only a point, just over a week after beating Salernitana 3-0 on home soil - their only win across their last 14 league matches.
As many as seven teams are still involved in a hotly-contested relegation battle with just three games remaining, including Eusebio Di Francesco's men who sit 16th in the table and two points clear of 18th-placed Udinese, the team thatthey will face on the final day of the campaign.
Frosinone's away form has slightly improved in recent weeks, but they will welcome Friday's return to their home stadium where they have picked up 78% of their Serie A points (25 out of 32) so far this season, second only to La Liga club Granada (86% - 18 out of 21) for points gained on home soil across Europe's top-five leagues.
The Canaries have looked solid at the back as they have kept a clean sheet in four of their last five matches, but success on Friday could prove challenging as they have lost each of their previous five league meetings with Inter; they have only played more Serie A games against Roma (six) without winning.
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There is reason for Frosinone to be optimistic of success on Friday, though, as their opponents Inter suffered a surprise 1-0 defeat away against relegation-threatened Sassuolo last weekend - just their second Serie A defeat of the season and their first since losing to the same team back in September.
Armand Lauriente scored the only goal of the game 20 minutes into the first half and Inter were unable to respond, registering just one of their 14 shots on target on a below-par afternoon for Simone Inzaghi's men.
Few will be surprised to see Inter's performance levels drop considering that they have already secured a 20th Scudetto and are merely playing for pride heading down the home straight, as they sit a whopping 18 points clear of rivals AC Milan in second place with three games still to play.
Inzaghi will not want to end the campaign on a whimper, though, and will encourage his team to avoid consecutive league defeats for the first time since April last year; the only time that Inter have lost back-to-back games in a title-winning season was in 1953 when they lost three in a row.
Inter can better their points tally from their last title-winning season (91 in 2020-21) if they claim maximum points on Friday against a Frosinone outfit whom they have beaten by an aggregate score of 13-1 across their previous five top-flight meetings.
Team News
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Frosinone will be without injured quartet Stefano Turati (hand), Sergio Kalaj (thigh), Anthony Oyono (ankle) and Mateus Lusuardi (unspecified), while Enzo Barrenechea is suspended due to an accumulation of yellow cards.
The absence of Barrenechea could see Francesco Gelli deputise in centre-midfield alongside Luca Mazzitelli and Marco Brescianini, while the rest of Di Francesco's lineup is set to remain intact.
Nadir Zortea and Emanuele Valeri should continue to provide width as wing-backs, while top scorer Matias Soule, who has a team-high 11 goals to his name this season, is set to be joined in attack by Walid Cheddira, who has scored five of his six goals since the turn of the year.
As for Inter, their only absentee is experienced defender Francesco Acerbi, who has missed the last two games with a groin injury and may not return before the season draws to a close.
A back three of Benjamin Pavard, Stefan de Vrij and Alessandro Bastoni is therefore set to remain intact, while Denzel Dumfries and Carlos Augusto are the most likely candidates to operate as wing-backs.
Inzaghi will weigh up whether to recall Marcus Thuram to his first XI or to stick with Alexis Sanchez in attack alongside top scorer Lautaro Martinez, who has netted 23 times in Serie A this season and is seven goals clear of Juventus' Dusan Vlahovic (16) in the race for the Golden Boot.
Frosinone possible starting lineup:
Cerofolini; Lirola, Romagnoli, Okoli; Zortea, Gelli, Mazzitelli, Valeri; Brescianini; Soule, Cheddira
Inter Milan possible starting lineup:
Audero; Pavard, De Vrij, Bastoni; Dumfries, Barella, Calhanoglu, Mkhitaryan, Augusto; Thuram, Martinez
We say: Frosinone 1-2 Inter Milan
Aware that one or two victories from their remaining fixtures could be enough to guarantee survival, Frosinone will be fired up for Friday's contest and will hope that the same below-par Inter side that lost at Sassuolo last time out turns up to the Stadio Benito Stirpe.
However, we expect a response from Inzaghi's men and they should ultimately find a way to claim all three points against a team that they have had plenty of joy against in previous meetings.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Oliver Thomas
