Inter Milan vs Hellas Verona

Stadio Giuseppe Meazza is the venue as Inter Milan and Hellas Verona lock horns in a must-win Serie A showdown.

Inter Milan bounced back from three consecutive domestic losses ‘to nil’ with a breathless 3-3 draw against Barcelona in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final tie. However, back-to-back Serie A defeats without a reply have seen Simone Inzaghi’s side slip to second in the standings, with Napoli steering three points clear. Therefore, there’s no margin for error against Verona, a side they’ve never lost to at Giuseppe Meazza (W22, D11), including seven victories on the trot. However, the reigning Scudetto holders have lost their last two home matches across all competitions and could make it three on the spin for the first time in over two years. Fans in attendance should be in for a spectacle, nonetheless. Indeed, Inter’s league-high 14 matches this term have produced 4+ goals.

Meanwhile, Verona’s disheartening 2-0 defeat to Cagliari earlier this week stretched their winless streak to five games (D3, L2), keeping them preoccupied ahead of the weekend. However, a seven-point cushion over Serie A’s bottom three should ease Paolo Zanetti’s nerves, even though his team could lose three consecutive league matches for the first time since December. That run ominously featured a 5-0 hammering at the hands of Inter on home turf. The hope of claiming revenge is thin, considering only two teams lament a worse away record than Verona’s ten league defeats on the road this season. But they’ve at least gone unbeaten in two of their last three away league outings (W1, D1, L1).