Serie A Preview: Inter vs Lazio – Team News, Line-ups & Prediction | OneFootball

The stakes are sky high for Scudetto-bidding Inter Milan as they take on Serie A top-four hopefuls Lazio in a must-win home game. Saturday’s encounter at Stadio Giuseppe Meazza can either boost or end both side’s seasonal goals.

Inter kept their dream of winning a 21st top-flight crown alive with a 2-0 win at Torino last weekend. Nicola Zalewski netted his first goal for the club since joining the Nerazzurri from Roma on loan in January to open the scoring. Kristjan Asllani put the game to bed from the spot early in the second half.

A second consecutive league win without conceding – following a 1-0 triumph against Hellas Verona in their last home outing – helped Inter stay within striking distance of pacesetters Napoli. However, Simone Inzaghi must take three points against his former club to at least take the title race to the final weekend.

Likewise, visiting Lazio cannot afford a slip-up at San Siro. Level on points with fourth-placed Juventus, Marco Baroni’s charges remain firmly in the running for a coveted Champions League qualification. Yet, with only two points separating fourth and seventh in Serie A, Lazio could miss out on European football for the first time since 2016/17 with a loss here.

Needless to say, defeat for either team would deal a potentially fatal blow to their respective ambitions. It would leave Inter at the mercy of Napoli in the title battle and Lazio vulnerable to falling out of the top-six picture entirely.

Match Preview

Inter Milan

The reigning Serie A champions backed up their remarkable Champions League semi-final victory against Barcelona with another all-important domestic win last weekend. Only a point adrift of Napoli, Inter can clinch the title in the regular season, though the possibility of a first Scudetto playoff since 1964 remains on the cards.

Nonetheless, Inter must hold up their end of the bargain and hope Napoli may drop points away to Parma. Inzaghi’s lads have been in fine form at Meazza, where they’ve won seven of their last eight home league matches, with the exception of a dismal 1-0 loss to Lazio’s arch-rivals Roma in late April.

A more favorable outcome is a distinct possibility for Inter, considering they have emerged victorious from four of the last five home league clashes against the Biancocelesti (D1). Moreover, Inzaghi has bested his ex-employers twice this season, including a thumping 6-0 win in December’s reverse fixture at Stadio Olimpico.

Lazio

Inter have been a bogey team for Baroni-led sides. Indeed, the 61-year-old manager has lost seven of his eight previous touchline encounters against the Nerazzurri (D1), with his teams conceding 2+ goals on each occasion. However, Lazio’s recent form suggests now could be the perfect moment for Baroni to buck that unwanted trend.

Despite alternating between drawing and winning in their last seven Serie A games (W3, D4), they’ve been in formidable form on the road. Victories against Atalanta, Genoa, and Empoli on Lazio’s three most recent league travels yielded an aggregate score of 4-0, putting the capital-based outfit on the brink of a flattering club feat.

The visitors stand on the verge of four consecutive away league wins ‘to nil’ for the first time since November 2022. Ominously for the traveling fans, you’d need to go back to early 2019 for the last time Lazio beat Inter at Meazza, though that win came without conceding. They’ve since gone five successive top-flight visits to this stadium without a clean sheet.

Team News

Inter have received a triple injury boost ahead of this pivotal fixture. Benjamin Pavard, Davide Frattesi, and Henrikh Mkhitaryan have returned to training via Gazzetta dello Sport. That leaves captain Lautaro Martinez as the only high-profile absentee, though El Toro trained separately from the group during midweek.

On the other hand, Lazio lost Luca Pellegrini and Mattia Zaccagni to yellow-card suspensions in an ill-tempered draw against Juventus last weekend. Elseid Hysaj, who returns from a one-game ban, should take the former’s place at left-back as Nuno Tavares remains on the sidelines with a muscle injury.

Inter Milan vs Lazio Potential Starting Line-ups

Inter Milan (3-5-2): Sommer; Bastoni, Acerbi, Bisseck; Dumfries, Barella, Calhanoglu, Mkhitaryan, Dimarco; Thuram, Taremi.

Lazio (4-2-3-1): Mandas; Marusic, Gila, Romagnoli, Hysaj; Rovella, Guendouzi; Isaksen, Dele-Bashiru, Pedro; Castellanos.

Inter Milan vs Lazio Prediction

Given a tight margin for error, fans at Meazza could be in for another low-scoring contest. Though both teams have thrived in such circumstances, the home advantage should set Inzaghi up nicely for a crucial win against his former associates.