After a 52-day break, Napoli travel to Milan to take on Inter in the marquee match of Round 16.
Inter Milan
Inter come into this match sitting in fifth position, 11 points behind Napoli. While the Nerazzurri haven’t had any trouble scoring goals – their 34 goals scored is second only to Napoli – only six teams have conceded more goals than Inter.
Inter have already lost five matches in the league, and all five losses were against clubs currently in the top eight. The only top club they have beaten thus far is Atalanta. A sixth loss to a top club would all but end Inter’s Scudetto hopes and could jeopardize their chances of finishing in the top four.
SSC Napoli
Napoli look to pick up where they left off before the World Cup break. After PSG’s loss to RC Lens on Sunday, the Partenopei are the only remaining undefeated club in Europe top five domestic leagues. However, extending that streak won’t be easy.
Napoli have won only one of their last ten league meetings with Inter – a 4-1 victory at the (then-named) Stadio San Paolo on May 19, 2019. The last time the Azzurri beat Inter at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza was on April 30, 2017.
Injuries/Suspensions
Stefan de Vrij will likely start on the bench after suffering an ankle bruise in training. According to Croatia coach Zlatko Dalic, Marcelo Brozovic was removed from Croatia’s World Cup Semi-Final against Argentina because the midfielder ‘felt a muscular twinge”. Brozovic underwent further tests on Monday, which revealed a small muscle sprain in the left soleus (lower calf). His condition will be re-evaluated in the coming days. Henrik Mkhitaryan is expected to start in Brozovic’s place, despite being removed from Inter’s friendly against Sassuolo for precautionary reasons after experiencing back pain. Meanwhile, Romelu Lukaku has recovered from the thigh injury that caused him to miss most of the season thus far.
Meanwhile, Napoli have used the World Cup break to return to full fitness. Khvicha Kvaratskhelia has recovered from the lower back injury that caused him to miss Napoli’s final three matches before the World Cup break. Likewise, Amir Rrahmani has recovered from the thigh injury that caused him to miss Napoli last six matches in Serie A and three matches in the Champions League. The central defender has not played a competitive match in nearly three months. Meanwhile, Kim Min-jae has recovered from the calf injury he suffered at the World Cup. However, the club announced on Tuesday that Gianluca Gaetano will not travel to Milan due to a bout of gastroenteritis.
Probable Formations
Manager’s Comments
Simone Inzaghi:
“Inter, like all those who are chasing them [Napoli], want to shorted the lead against an opponent who is the best team in Europe at the moment. We must congratulate the Napoli coach, but whoever is behind has the hope of shortening [the gap]. This, however, happens on the field. We are a united group, with extraordinary fans, who want to win all matches, without thinking about absences, injuries and suspensions.”
Luciano Spalletti:
“Inter is definitely a top-level team. We are going to play against a top-level team that in the last 3 and a half years has made investments as a top-level team in Europe and this great ability allows Inter to expand easily the field both in terms of width and depth. It is a team that knows how to shut itself down. As you said, for the entire match they have this double center forward against our two centre-backs, who overturn the action and become very dangerous. So we must always stay in order and maintain a tactical team balance. They force you to change the shape of your team in an instant and precisely because of the physicality they have added from the great technical quality you can easily peek at the type of action with this opening on the fifth with this depth on the two ends and we will have to be good at maintaining balance, as I said before, but above all, at maintaining control of the game. This becomes a fundamental factor.”
Previous Meetings
| February 12, 2022 | SSC Napoli | 1-1 | Inter Milan |
| November 21, 2021 | Inter Milan | 3-2 | SSC Napoli |
| April 18, 2021 | SSC Napoli | 1-1 | Inter Milan |
| December 16, 2020 | Inter Milan | 1-0 | SSC Napoli |
| July 28, 2020 | Inter Milan | 2-0 | SSC Napoli Milan |
Match Officials
Head Official: Simone Sozza
Assistants: Filippo Meli and Giorgio Peretti
Fourth Official: Marco Piccinini
VAR: Michael Fabbri and Gianluca Aureliano
