Inter travel to the Italian capital to take on Daniele De Rossi and AS Roma on Saturday, February 10.
Yet another top matchup for Inter. Less than a week after facing second-placed Juventus in a “battle for the Scudetto”, the Nerazzurri now face fifth-placed Roma and newly hired manager, Daniele De Rossi.
Since hiring Italian legend De Rossi, Roma has not lost a match. The Giallorossi have enjoyed a breath of fresh air with their new manager, beating Hellas Verona, Salernitana and Cagliari while scoring eight goals and only conceding two. Is this a purple patch, the “new manager bounce”? Time will tell. But for now, Roma looks reborn and has returned to fight for a spot in the top four- sitting just one point behind fourth-placed Atalanta, although Atalanta have played one game less.
Inter is coming off a massively important win over Juventus, which could have major implications on the race for the Scudetto. An own goal from Juventus’ Federico Gatti separated the two, but Inter had plenty of other chances. The Nerazzurri must continue their winning ways if they want to maintain their four-point advantage over Juventus, with a game in hand. In the reverse fixture earlier this season at the Giuseppe Meazza Stadium, Inter overcame the visitors in a close 1-0 win with a goal from Marcus Thuram.
During the January transfer window, Inter stayed relatively quiet. Aside from an early signing in the form of Tajon Buchanan, the only other first-team movement was a loan to Spanish side Sevilla for Lucien Agoumé. As for Roma, Dean Huijsen was first brought in on a straight loan from Juventus. The 18-year-old Dutch defender has already made five appearances for Roma and has already scored a goal for the club, coming against Cagliari. Next, Spanish fullback Angeliño was signed on loan with the option to buy from RB Leipzig in Germany. Finally, Roma made a deadline day for the Italian jewel, Tommaso Baldanzi. The 20-year-old attacker has already made 14 appearances for Empoli this season, scoring two goals. The Siena-region native is one to watch for the future.
According to SkySport Italy, Roma is expected to line up as follows (4-3-3): Rui Patrício; Karsdorp, Mancini, Llorente, Angeliño; Cristante, Paredes, Pellegrini; El Shaarawy, Lukaku, Dybala.
According to SkySport Italy, Inter is expected to line up as follows (3-5-2): Sommer; Pavard, Acerbi, Bastoni; Darmian, Barella, Çalhanoğlu, Mkhitaryan, Dimarco; Thuram, Lautaro Martínez. Davide Frattesi has been ruled out through injury and Stefano Sensi has not travelled with the squad due to illness.
Roma-Inter is set to kick off at 18:00 CET / 12:00 EST on Saturday, February 10.
We have 7-6-1 against Roma since 17/18 or so. Last time Roma beat us at the Olimpico is 16/17. The Olimpico is always tough be it the blue or red team.
One thing a team will have to possess to win is confidence, and Roma seems to have just a little bit of that.
That said, even Mourinho would probably had won those last 3 games, so it’s difficult to judge beforehand.
Even we would keep pushing with this speed ahead, we will loose some points down the road eventually. That’s inevitable. This could be it, but…
To tell the truth: I really don’t see it happen this evening. We are to strong in skill and belief.
As always:
Forza Ragazzi, Forza Nerazzurri🖤💙
Gotta admit, I’m nervous about this one.
Always liked DDR as a player, even though he always seemed to score against us. Something very *real* about that guy.
DDR had a very easy schedule since Jose left Roma, we’ll see how he does against the top of the table teams?