Serie A restarts with a clash between title contenders, where Inter will look to end Napoli’s run and fuel everybody’s comeback hopes. Instead, the Azzurri can deliver a devastating blow to the Scudetto race.
Serie A Week 16 – Wednesday 4 January 2023 – San Siro | Preview by Enrico Passarella
Inter
If it weren’t for the inexplicable dud versus Juventus, the late October/early November run by the Nerazzurri would be impeccable. They finished up with six wins in the last seven matches, routing Salernitana, Sampdoria, and Bologna and outlasting Sassuolo, Fiorentina, and Atalanta. That’s a sound track record, but they need to keep it to entirely compensate for their early woes.
The recent struggles of La Dea and Roma never quite getting it going completely have made the Champions League fray less fearsome, but Lazio won’t go away, and the Gian Piero Gasperini-led side is always a threat to go on a run. A serene navigation toward a top four finish is a realistic goal.
Inter approach the second half of the season in better shape than Milan and the Bianconeri health-wise, and they fueled their self-confidence before the break. There’s a robust chance they’ll soon prove to be the second-best team in the League.
Instead, if they still exist, the residual title aspirations inevitably go through coming out on top in this game. Even though there’s a lot of time left, it’s hard to imagine closing an 11-point gap on a team that has been so lethal. It’d be near impossible without exploiting the opportunity to slice it significantly in one fell swoop.
La Beneamata arrives at the restart in decent conditions, even though Marcelo Brozovic picking up a late, and apparently minor, injury is big blow considering how much time he missed already. They’ll have to ride a little longer with the previous configuration. Hakan Calhanoglu has been admirable as a deep-lying playmaker, making it legit to wonder whether he should play there on the regular, and Henrikh Mkhitaryan an adequate fill-in starter, but the Croat makes the team operate at higher efficiency and takes care of the dirty work in brilliant fashion.
Instead, Romelu Lukaku is indeed back. He has looked good in the friendlies after a terrible World Cup, where he was still affected by a thigh problem and visibly lacked conditioning. The Nerazzurri haven’t exactly struggled without him, as they have the second-best attack in Serie A. Still, if he got back to his dominating version of the Antonio Conte years, he’s at a whole different level than Edin Dzeko, who’s classy and crafty and did his part, but there’s a gulf in terms of production and fear factor. The connection with Lautaro Martinez had reached insane levels, and they perfectly complement each other.
While the frontline has been thriving and might even go up a level, the defense has been shoddy, and not just for big team’s standards. They have given up more goals than Udinese, Torino, Fiorentina, Empoli, and Lecce, and the same amount as Monza and Sassuolo. It’s baffling considering their talent. They no longer have the excuse of having a statue between the sticks, as André Onana might not be super polished, but he flies around.
For whatever reason, all their center-backs have taken a step back, some more evidently than others, and the uncertainty about their future doesn’t help. Brozovic will eventually and naturally make the midfield sturdier. He’s more work-rate oriented than Calhanoglu and Mkhitaryan, who, even though they bust their tail, are offensive-minded players that progressively deepened their position on the pitch. However, for the most part, the rearguard has to get better on its own, getting rid of mental lapses and blunders, which have been more collective than personal.
January is a weird month for everybody, and especially for a side that constantly faces the threat of losing a linchpin. Some situations were self-inflicted because you play with fire when you get too close to the expiration dates of key contracts.
They seem to have reversed their stance on partying ways with Robin Gosens, either because they believe in him or they found out that the offers weren’t good enough. A return to form would be the best-case scenario for them, technically and economically, as nobody will come near the fee they spent for him. However, it’d take a lot to unseat Federico Dimarco, who has been on fire as a playmaker. Yet, if he somehow got back to his Atalanta levels, another pristine finisher would be quite the addition to their arsenal, considering how much they create.
With Brozovic being out, the only doubts are between Francesco Acerbi and Stefan De Vrij in the back, and the latter is in imperfect conditions, and whether to start Lautaro Martinez, who has just a pair of practices under his belt. The latest reports suggest Dzeko and Lukaku will pair up, but it will go down to the wire.
Expected XI (3-5-2): Onana; Skriniar, Acerbi, Bastoni; Dumfries, Barella, Calhanoglu, Mkhitaryan, Dimarco; Dzeko, Lukaku.
Napoli
The big question for Napoli is whether the lengthy stoppage is helpful or detrimental. It’s possible to argue in each direction before the matches resume. On the one hand, it halted their momentum, and it’s easier to keep marching when you are already rolling. Conversely, a winning streak always takes a toll that eventually becomes so hefty that it leads to its end.
The Partenopei have been so rock-solid and versatile in the ways they have triumphed that the first scenario is more likely. They’ll probably come out of the pause re-energized and ready to amass more positive results without the wear and tear of the previous string. At this point, their main concern is what impact a big loss could have on their psyche and if it could cause their castle of certainties to crumble, sending them into a spiral. They obviously hope they never have to find out.
The Azzurri have prevailed in every possible fashion so far, romping and outclassing opponents but also going toe-to-toe with those that had managed to keep up with them, and eking out late wins when they preferred more cautious approaches. Luciano Spalletti has been remarkable.
Another reassuring factor is that no absence dented their performance. They didn’t relent without Victor Osimhen early on and then sans Khvicha Kvaratskhelia in the final three matches, even though they lose a lot of pizzazz if the Georgian ace. They didn’t skip a beat when Frank Anguissa or Amir Rrahmani were unavailable. So far, there hasn’t been a man they haven’t been able to replace properly. Piotr Zielinski and especially Stanislav Lobotka might be the ones they could have trouble substituting considering how much they contribute in all facets of the game. They wish they never have to figure it out in this case as well.
They have adapted tremendously to any formation and offensive composition. There’s a big difference between either Osimhen, Giacomo Raspadori, or Giovanni Simone spearheading the frontline, and it affects their feeds too, but it hasn’t been a problem, and the machine has continued to hum. The Nigerian star has been by far the most productive, and he’s pure brute force when he’s completely fit. Still, there’s also something to having a mobile center-forward that doesn’t give reference points to the opponents, turning up their unpredictability. The fact that they can switch from one style to the other without a hitch is a testament to how hard and thorough they are in practice in rehearsing the various formations.
The minor quibble is that they occasionally give up cheap goals, but their defensive numbers, while not top of the League, are more than acceptable given how much they score on the other end. The Alex Meret gamble, and who knows how willing it was, has paid off, and Kim Min-Jae has been outstanding since day one. Rrahmani is an unsung hero, and if he doesn’t need too much time to get into shape, he’ll be a big help.
Their scouting department has been justifiably lauded for unearthing players they signed for relatively cheap and quickly outperformed expectations, proving to be all-around stars. Perhaps the most meaningful advantage of thinking outside the box and buying from foreign, distant, second-tier leagues was that the newcomers didn’t feel the burden of succeeding champions that had written the history of the club.
They are healthy, other than perhaps Salvatore Sirigu, who’s also receiving interest from Serie B teams. The biggest question mark is Rrahmani, who hasn’t starred in three months, as the gaffer might play it safe and go with Juan Jesus. The other doubts are the usual, either Mario Rui or Mathias Olivera at left-back, and between Matteo Politano and Hirving Lozano as right-winger.
Expected XI (4-3-3): Meret; Di Lorenzo, Kim, Juan Jesus, Olivera; Anguissa, Lobotka, Zielinski; Politano, Osimhen, Kvaratshkelia.
Injuries
Inter: Brozovic (calf pull).
Napoli: Sirigu (thigh injury).
