After a loss to start their European campaign, Inter Milan return to domestic duty on Saturday, as they host Bologna at San Siro.
Though the Nerazzurri were beaten by Real Madrid in midweek, they have made a promising start to life under Simone Inzaghi, while their visitors sit sixth in Serie A and remain unbeaten so far.
Match preview
© Reuters
A dramatic late goal from Real Madrid's Rodrygo denied Inter a draw with their Champions League Group D counterparts Real Madrid on Wednesday, as they went winless for a second successive game.
The two European giants clashed in Milan, with the hosts dictating the pace for most of the first half, and causing their illustrious visitors several problems. However, Simone Inzaghi's men were unable to hold out for an opening point - adding to the frustration from being held to a 2-2 draw by Sampdoria last weekend.
Though they led twice in Genoa, on each occasion the Nerazzurri were pulled back, and their perfect record to start the season came to an end after a surprisingly close-fought encounter.
Having previously brushed aside Genoa and Verona, as summer signings Joaquin Correa, Edin Dzeko and Hakan Calhanoglu settled into San Siro life seamlessly, they will nonetheless be confident of returning to winning ways on Saturday evening.
Inter won both games against Bologna last term and have won each of their last 17 home league games in all. In fact, only three teams in Serie A history have maintained a longer winning run on home soil: Torino in 1948, Milan in 1950 and Juventus in both 2014 and then 2017, when they put together a remarkable 33-match streak.
Even without the departed hero of last term's Scudetto triumph, Romelu Lukaku, Inter have also continued a run of scoring at least two goals in each of their last eight league outings, and will expect to test a Rossoblu defence that has fared well in keeping the back door shut so far.
© Reuters
On Monday night, Bologna not only kept a second successive clean sheet in the Italian top flight, but also sealed another win to keep their undefeated start to the 2021-22 campaign going.
Matthias Svanberg's second-half winner - from an inadvertent Marko Arnautovic assist - puts Sinisa Mihajlovic's side into the top six at this early stage of the season and sets them up well for one of the toughest tests in the Calcio calendar.
Summer signing Arnautovic - briefly at Inter as a youngster - netted his first league goal before the international break, having previously scored in a dramatic 5-4 Coppa Italia defeat last month. While the colourful frontman has already made an impact in Emilia-Romagna, he would now love to get one over on his old employers this weekend.
His opening-day goal - which arrived nearly 12 years after his Serie A debut for the Nerazzurri - has raised hopes among the Rossoblu faithful of surpassing successive 12th-place finishes since Mihajlovic's return, and dreams of an upset on Saturday may be boosted by a glance at the recent record books.
Bologna have won four of their last nine away matches against Inter - since 2011, only Juventus have picked up more wins against them at San Siro - and they have scored in each of their last 10 matches in this fixture as the visiting side.
- W
- W
- D
- W
- W
- W
- W
- D
- L
- W
- D
- W
- L
- W
- L
- W
- D
- W
Team News
© Reuters
With little time to rest after the visit of Real Madrid, it is possible that Simone Inzaghi will make some changes, but has few enforced absences to deal with on Saturday.
Centre-back Alessandro Bastoni was passed fit to start in midweek, after struggling with an injury picked up on international duty, so is likely to feature once again in Inter's three-man defence.
However, midfielder Stefano Sensi is still out of action with a knee injury, leaving Hakan Calhanoglu and Nicolo Barella the favourites to join Marcelo Brozovic in the centre. Meanwhile, current incumbent Matteo Darmian and summer signing Denzel Dumfries will compete directly for a spot on the right flank, with Ivan Perisic starting on the left.
Former Inter player and assistant manager Sinisa Mihajlovic will be without midfield duo Jerdy Schouten and Kingsley Michael for the trip to Milan, as the former is yet to rejoin full training and the latter has a muscular injury that could keep him out for the rest of the month.
The winning goalscorer on Monday, Mattias Svanberg, is favourite to deputise for Schouten in the away side's engine room, with Roberto Soriano and Nicola Sansone battling it out with Andreas Skov Olsen for a place in the attacking trio which will support lone striker Marko Arnautovic. Musa Barrow and Riccardo Orsolini are also in contention.
Inter Milan possible starting lineup:
Handanovic; Skriniar, De Vrij, Bastoni; Dumfries, Barella, Brozovic, Calhanoglu, Perisic; Correa, Dzeko
Bologna possible starting lineup:
Skorupski; De Silvestri, Medel, Bonifazi, Hickey; Svanberg, Dominguez; Orsolini, Soriano, Barrow; Arnautovic
We say: Inter Milan 2-1 Bologna
Though it may not be straightforward, Inter can get back on the winning trail with victory over their Emilian visitors, who will see their unbeaten start come to an end.
Even if the Nerazzurri rotate their considerable resources, a formidable attack can surely breach Bologna's defence on more than one occasion.
Top tip
Jonathan O'Shea
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Inter Milan win with a probability of 72.96%. A draw had a probability of 16.3% and a win for Bologna had a probability of 10.79%.
The most likely scoreline for a Inter Milan win was 2-0 with a probability of 11.14%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (9.37%) and 3-0 (9.16%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (7.61%), while for a Bologna win it was 1-2 (3.2%). The actual scoreline of 6-1 was predicted with a 1% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Inter Milan would win this match.
