Inter return to the Giuseppe Meazza after nearly a full month of away matches to take on Udinese on Saturday, December 9.
Gabriele Cioffi’s Udinese have experienced a difficult beginning to the 2023-2024 Serie A season with just 1 win so far, finding themselves in 16th place- only 2 points safe of the relegation zone. Udinese’s two most important players this season have been 23-year old Italian forward, Lorenzo Lucca, who is on loan from Pisa. Lucca has 4 goals this season and is Le Zebrette’s top goalscorer as of now. Next is a name many Inter fans will recognize, Lazar Samardžić. The 21-year old Serbian midfielder currently has 2 goals and 2 assists this season.
During the summer of 2023, Samardžić was reportedly a step away from joining Inter, but the move collapsed due to confusion with his agent and the terms of the deal being changed several times. A move did not end up happening, and the midfielder was quoted saying he wants to give ‘200%, Inter are one of the strongest teams and there has been a lot of talk between this season and last’.
Inter want to continue their winning form, as Juventus continue to push the Nerazzurri not to drop any points. Juventus overcame Napoli 1-0 on Friday evening, overtaking Inter in the Serie A table to be first place, with a match in-hand of course. With somewhat of a defensive crisis, Inter must do everything they can to come out on top.
According to SkySport Italy, Inter is set to line up as follows (3-5-2): Sommer; Bisseck, Acerbi, Carlos Augusto; Darmian, Barella, Çalhanoğlu, Mkhitaryan, Dimarco; Thuram, Lautaro. Alessandro Bastoni has returned from injury, but is set to start from the bench. Denzel Dumfries, Stefan de Vrij and Benjamin Pavard are ruled out due to injury.
According to SkySport Italy, Udinese is set to line up as follows (3-5-2): Silvestri; João Ferreira, Kabasele, Pérez; Ebosele, Samardžić, Walace, Payero, Zemura; Pereyra, Lucca. Enzo Ebosse, Keinan Davis, Jaka Bijol, Gerard Deulofeu, Vivaldo Semedo and Brenner have all been ruled out due to injury.
Inter-Udinese is set to kick off on Saturday, December 9 at 20:45 CET / 14:45 EST.
