Juventus can pile pressure on Ranieri by prevailing in the Derby d'Italia
When Inter Milan hosted Juventus in a pre-season friendly in August the matches produced a swashbuckling 13 goals, with the home side winning 7-6. It’s highly doubtful that this afternoon’s clash between the two sides will produce anywhere near as many strikes, but it has the making of a fascinating fixture, and the Old Lady can cement their position at the summit of Serie A by collecting three points.
The Nerazzurri are languishing in sixteenth place in the league table at present, a plight largely attributed to the fact that they’ve won just one Scudetto game on home soil so far this season, which was in their penultimate fixture against Chievo. Subsequently they earned a creditable away draw against the in-form Atalanta, but Juve have yet to suffer defeat on the road this term, and arrive here on the back of a good victory against Fiorentina in Turin.
Claudio Ranieri has had to do without a number of key players since taking over the reins at the Giuseppe Meazza, and defenders Andrea Ranocchia and Walter Samuel are both on the easy list at present, as are Diego Forlan and Thiago Motta. The visitors’ coach Antonio Conte has to make do without first-choice keeper Gianluigi Buffon, but otherwise has most of his key personnel fit and raring to go.
One of the highlights of Juventus’ excellent start to the season has been the form of veteran Andrea Pirlo who joined from Inter’s co-habitants AC during the summer. Pirlo shows no signs of waning in terms of ability despite his advancing years, and the influential midfielder will supply plenty of ammunition for the Old Lady’s main breadwinner up front, Alessandro Matri.
One has to feel for Ranieri; the former Chelsea boss will no doubt have the weight of the world on his shoulders at present, and Juventus are poised to twist the knife deeper today. I can’t envisage many goals being scored, perhaps a 1-0 or 2-1 verdict to the away side, but the suggestion is to simply back Juve outright.