Inter race 11 points clear and can win Serie A title this weekend!

The 11 year wait for Inter is almost over as they are so close now to winning the Serie A title after a stagnant decade. Antonio Conte’s team have been far the best side in the league and with 79 points they are 11 points in front of Atalanta who themselves have had a fantastic campaign.

One of the stories emerging out of this Serie A season is that Milan or even Juventus could miss out on the Champions League next season. Milan’s poor form has seen them slip to 5th and Juventus are now in 4th place. Though 3rd placed Napoli are on the same points (66) as both Juventus and Milan so it is certainly going to be a close call and should go down to the wire.

For Inter it has been a nervous month of April with each game finishing with just one goal for Conte’s team. Last weekend Inter recorded their 24th win of the season with a very narrow 1-0 victory at home over 10th placed Verona. Verona came into the game having having lost their last 3 in a row and of course Inter were the huge odds on favourites being at home.

However as it transpired this game looked to be finishing in a 0-0 stalemate before Matteo Darmian settled scores with just 14 minutes remaining of the match to get all three points for Inter in a weekend in which Juventus drew and Milan lost.

Verona made life difficult for Inter and that’s what can happen when you have nothing to play for. Verona will  be safe this season but also won’t be able to qualify for European football for next season and they actually had more goal attempts than Inter with 12 in total. Although the difference in technical quality was still telling given that Verona managed just 1 shot on target compared to Inter’s four.

Achraf Hakimi who has been so consistent this season assisted in Darmian’s goal and the player finished well to send the team into fits of joy. True the league isn’t over yet, but you take a look at the expressions of the players and coach and you knew that they knew that it was.

Inter could win the title this weekend when they play Crotone away from home. Although if they win they would still need to wait for Sunday on May 2nd to see how Atalanta perform when they play Sassuolo away from home.

Such is the excitement though that Inter owner Steven Zhang has flown in from China to witness the title celebrations. Surely if it is not this weekend it will be the next?

The Super League fallout seems to have gone quiet and Inter were one of the 12 teams who signed up to the doomed competition. Even though respective FA’s and UEFA said that teams would be punished this hasn’t been the case yet and maybe the associations will now wait until the end of the season. One of the punishments could see Inter banned from Europe for one season which would be unfortunate for them, instead they will be hoping for just a fine.

Stay tuned next weekend as we could be celebrating an historic league title for Inter.

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Martinez the hat trick hero as Inter hit Crotone for 6

Inter beat Crotone 6-2 to march on in Serie A and they are just a point behind Milan in what is looking like a two horse race now for the league title.

Inter have not lost in 10 games and they have earned 26 points from their last 30 as they continue their relentless route chasing Milan. It was a fantastic performance from Antonio Conte’s team although what was incredible is that they actually went behind in the game.

Crotone took a surprise lead as early as the 12th minute from a headed cross but less than 20 minutes later Inter were leading the game. First through Lautaro Martinez who hadn’t stopped scoring goals up until now but had gone a little goal shy for his standard. Martinez smashed home superbly from a Romelu Lukaku assist and even though it was only 1-1 you got the feeling at that moment that there would only be one winner. Soon it was 2-1 due to an own goal, though it appeared that Martinez had scored his second but replays showed he clearly hadn’t.

But the excitement was not over yet when just a few minutes later Crotone were awarded a penalty and converted for 2-2, the teams went in at half time with this score. Whilst Inter had been technically the much better side there was no denying that the visitors had played a good first half and had many threats on goal themselves.

Martinez made it 3-2 just before the hour mark from a tight angle- he was so full of confidence in this game. A few minutes later the power and strength of Lukaku shrugged off a few defenders to make it 4-2 and now the game looked like Inter would collect all three points.

A 5th goal came and it was Martinez’s hat trick after he was in the right place when a shot was saved but he pounced on the re bound with his head from just a few yards out. Achraf Hakimi who has been in brilliant form for Conte’s team rounded off the game by making it 6-2. Matteo Darmian assisted Hakimi who scored from a thundering shot and the defender ironically probably scored the best goal of the game.

Inter’s 3 best performing players so far this season:

1. Romelu Lukaku 52pts

Lukaku has scored 12 goals and assisted in a further 3 and is having arguably his best season in his career to date and has the most points of any player at Inter.

2. Lautaro Martinez 42pts

Martinez recently picked up 14 points in one game v Crotone and looks like being one of the really special forwards in this new era of football. He has scored 9 goals and made another three.

3. Achraf Hakimi 32pts

Hakimi looks like he is everywhere on the pitch and has so much passion and desire. For a defender his stats are fantastic and he has scored 5 goals and assisted in another three. He has also helped to keep 3 clean sheets.

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Serie A Fantasy Recap – Round 36

Standings implications: Juventus did not squander the second chance to wrap up the title race and took home the ninth Scudetto in a row with a two-nil win against Sampdoria. Inter leapfrogged Atalanta in second position with a comfortable win over Genoa, while the Goddess shared the spoils with Milan. Roma gained two points over the Rossoneri in the race to the fifth spot as they topped Fiorentina. Napoli helped those two team out by defeating Sassuolo in a bizarro game and there are no longer doubts regarding who will qualify to Europa League, it is just a matter of positioning. Parma eked out one in Brescia. With Lecce losing to Bologna in heart-breaking fashion, everybody is safe besides Genoa, even tough Torino could not beat SPAL, while Udinese bested Cagliari.

Continue reading

Serie A Injury and Suspension Report – Round 26

Atalanta: Rafael Toloi will miss the next game due to a hamstring strain, while Berat Djimsiti with a bruised quad.

Bologna: Ibrahima Mbaye is suspended. The infirmary is emptying out since Nicola Sansone, Gary Medel and Federico Santander are poised to be available following thigh strains, Roberto Soriano after a bruise, leaving only Mitchell Dijks (foot), Ladislav Krejci (knee) and Mattias Svanberg (thigh) on the shelf. Continue reading

Serie A Fantasy Preview – Round 23

Roma-Bologna: the Giallorossi are in a funk and have played just one convincing game out of the last five. They will be without Lorenzo Pellegrini due to suspension and it is a massive loss considering that he is the mastermind of their offense. They should get Henrikh Mkhitaryan back from injury and perhaps even starting considering the hole at no.10. The other option is likely Diego Perotti and they seem to always be awarded a penalty when he is out there. Edin Dzeko has scored in three straight games and they will face a pretty suspect back-line. Cengiz Under took a step back versus Sassuolo, but he is always pretty assertive when he decides to play, while Justin Kluivert has not done much since coming back from injury, but should improve over time. Paulo Fonseca has elected to keep Aleksandar Kolarov on the bench in the last two matches for tactical reasons, but the decision has not really moved the needle so the stud left-back should soon be back in the XI. Continue reading

Serie A Fantasy Picks – Round Ten

Pau Lopez: Roma have not given up more than one goal in four consecutive contests and they will face the least productive offense on the League, Udinese’s, which has scored just five times so far. The Spaniard goalie is not very flashy but he gets the job done.

Matteo Darmian: Parma have a plus match-up on the docket versus Verona, which famously have trouble hitting the net. Their back-line is down to bare bones after the injuries to Bruno Alves and Riccardo Gagliolo, but it should be enough in this one and Darmian also participates actively to the offense. Continue reading

Serie A Team of the Round – Parma

Parma were clearly the best team of the week as they rolled the reeling Genoa, even though a cheap goal ruined a glorious fantasy haul.

The Gialloblù were coming off a road loss to SPAL but had beaten Torino and Sassuolo in the last two home fixtures, climbing up the standings. Roberto D’Aversa lost Bruno Alves the day before the match and gave Kastriot Dermaku a chance in the heart of the defence, keeping Riccardo Gagliolo on the left flank, while Matteo Darmian returned from injury on the other one. In the midfield, Matteo Scozzarella and Antonino Barillà were chosen over Hernani, while the trident was the usual one. Continue reading

Serie A Injury and Suspension Report – Round Seven

Atalanta: Luis Muriel returned in Champions League from his tonsillitis and thus they have no injuries to worry about.

Bologna: Roberto Soriano is suspended, while Mitchell Dijks is trying to come back from a ribs contusion, but he has yet to resume practicing fully.

Cagliari: Charalampos Lykogiannis is dealing with some Achilles soreness, while Ragnar Klavan has some thigh muscle fatigue. They are iffy for the weekend. Christian Oliva and Simone Pinna are under the weather. Among these, only Oliva has been able to recover enough to be called up.  Continue reading

Serie A Fantasy Picks – Round Three

Salvatore Sirigu: Lecce have yet to score in this campaign and therefore Torino are in prime position to keep the clean sheet that has eluded them thus far, primarily due to the good level of the opponent they have faced thus far.

Francesco Acerbi: Lazio have conceded just one goal so far and SPAL are certainly not the most explosive side, so their defensive leader might be able to pick up some points during the weekend. Continue reading

Serie A Deadline Day Recap

A pretty eventful deadline day in Italy ended with the most anticipated news of the summer as Mauro Icardi finally left Inter to join PSG on loan with option. Roma finished off their summer with two more international additions: Nikola Kalinic and Henryk Mkhitaryan, while Milan brought in another striker in Ante Rebic, sending André Silva to Eintracht Frankfurt in return.

Napoli rounded up their attack by signing free agent Fernando Llorente, who is back in Italy after playing for two seasons at Juventus. The Spaniard has not been prolific with Tottenham, just two goals in Premier League in the last two seasons while he scored a bit more in the various cups, but they wanted a back-up for Arkadiusz Milik and he could be useful in late-game situations. Continue reading