Inter travel to Chievo on Sunday as they look to beat Roma and Lazio to third place in Serie A before the season draws to a close. Luciano Spalletti’s side come
90 Min | Apr 21, 2018
Inter travel to Chievo on Sunday as they look to beat Roma and Lazio to third place in Serie A before the season draws to a close.
Luciano Spalletti's side come into the game off the back of an impressive 4-0 victory against Cagliari on Tuesday. An early strike from Joao Cancelo was built on by second half goals from Mauro Icardi, Marcelo Brozović and Ivan Perišić.
Meanwhile, Chievo have recorded back to back draws in their last two games, failing to register goals against both Torino last weekend and SPAL 2013 during midweek. They face the first of two challenging games, as they take on Inter and then travel to Roma six days later.
Classic Encounter
Chievo upset the odds with a shock 2-0 victory at home to Inter back in August 2016.
After several early attempts at goal from Inter which were not capitalised on, Chievo fought their way back into the game and the tie was relatively even yet uneventful going into the half time break.
However, a 49th minute strike from Chievo's Valter Birsa shocked spectators as he slotted home into the bottom left corner to give the hosts a surprise lead in the Serie A tie.
With nine minutes left on the clock, Birsa scored his second goal of the game with a powerful effort from outside of the box, into the bottom right corner of the Inter goal.
Key Battle
Mauro Icardi vs Ivan Radovanović
Argentine striker Mauro Icardi is on fine form for Inter this season, having netted 25 times in 29 Serie A appearances.
Icardi has now almost guaranteed himself a place on the plane to the World Cup in Russia this summer, but will do himself no harm with another impressive performance during this weekend's trip to Chievo.
The 25-year-old will come up against Ivan Radovanović, an experienced Serbian international who has coverted from a defensive midfielder to play in the centre of a back three for Chievo.
The 29-year-old has played 149 Serie A games for Chievo, with 24 of those coming this season. Standing at 6ft 1in, the defender has good positional sense and is difficult to beat in one-on-one situations.
Team News
Chievo head into the game with a full bill of health, as their whole first team squad is available for selection.
Visitors Inter will be without injured midfield duo Roberto Gagliardini and Assane Gnoukouri for the tie, but manager Luciano Spalletti has an otherwise fully fit squad to select from.
Predicted Inter Milan Lineup: Handanović; Cancelo, Skriniar, Miranda, D'Ambrosio; Valero, Brozović; Karamoh, Rafinha, Perisić; Icardi.
Predicted Chievo Lineup: Sorrentino; Gamberini, Radovanović, Tomović; Depaoli, Giaccherini, Rigoni, Hetemaj, Jaroszyński; Pucciarelli, Inglese.
Prediction
Inter are coming into this game in impressive form, as they chase third place in the Serie A table.
The form of striker Mauro Icardi, plus the attacking trio behind him, may prove too much for an average Chievo side and the visitors should come away from the game with all three points.
Prediction: Chievo 0-3 Inter Milan