18 March 2023
Juventus face Inter on Sunday evening in the final league match before players depart on international duty.
The Nerazzurri are in second place in the Serie A stangings on 50 points, having won 16 games - the same number as the Bianconeri - but are being closely pursued by Lazio, Milan and Roma. In fact, only three points separate Inter from fourth placed Roma.
Let's catch up on the form of Simone Inzaghi's side.
THE SEASON SO FAR
Although on leaders Napoli have won more matche. than Inter in the league this season, it is only the fifth time they have lost at least eight of their first 26 matches since Serie A returned to a 20-team format in 2004/05. Worth noting is that on the other four occasions, the Nerazzurri never finished in the top four places come the end of the season (6th place in 2011/12, 9th in 2012/13, 8th in 2014/15 and 7th in 2016/17).
Inzaghi's team have lost two of their last three league games, away to Bologna and Spezia, as many defeats as from the previous 15, when they won 11 of them.
That said, the mood in the Milanese club camp must be high following the goalless draw at Porto on Tuesday that earned them a place in the Champions League quarter-finals against a team Juve know well, another Portuguese team, Benfica. The foundations for the victory over the Portuguese champions were constructed at San Siro, where they have also won 15 of their last 17 home games in Serie A, keeping 10 clean sheets in the period.
However, Inter have been defeated in three of their last six Serie A matches played after Champions League duty, including the last two in chronological order, against Bologna and Juventus.
KEEP AN EYE ON...
No player has scored more goals in Serie A home matches in 2023 than Lautaro Martínez. The Argentine has netted four, the same as Adrien Rabiot and Victor Osimhen. The Inter striker has 14 goals to his credit this season in Serie A alone, twice his nearest rival among the Nerazzurri, Edin Dzeko on seven.
Like Dušan Vlahović last weekend, Martinez failed to convert a penalty. In fact, he has missed four of his eight penalties in Serie A, including three of the last four.
Martinez has only scored once against Juventus in nine Serie A matches and has a goal average of one every 586 minutes played against the Bianconeri, his poorest return in the top flight against a single opponent.
