Juve have made a strong start to the new campaign, with the 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016 title winners showing no signs of loosening their grip on the Scudetto just yet. The loss of Paul Pogba to Manchester United and Alvaro Morata to Real Madrid has barely been felt up to now, with summer signings Gonzalo Higuain, Dani Alves, Marko Pjaca and Miralem Pjanic all making their mark to varying extents. A 0-0 draw at home to Sevilla in the Champions League on Wednesday was a slight disappointment for the Bianconeri, but three straight wins in the Italian top flight – 2-1 against Fiorentina, 1-0 against Lazio and 3-1 against Sassuolo – means they are understandably considered favourites to triumph in this highly anticipated fixture.
Inter, meanwhile, have had a rather more mixed start to the season: the opening weekend of 2016/17 brought a 2-0 defeat at Chievo, before an unconvincing 1-1 draw with Palermo and come-from-behind triumph over newly-promoted Pescara last time out. The Nerazzurri, who are now managed by Frank de Boer after Roberto Mancini’s departure in the summer, will be aiming to challenge at the top of Serie A this term after an underwhelming few years since the start of the decade, with Joao Mario, Gabriel Barbosa, Ever Banega and Antonio Candreva all acquired during pre-season to help them achieve that objective.
Juventus have been tactically flexible ever since Max Allegri replaced current Chelsea boss Antonio Conte in the dugout in 2014, but the former Milan manager has so far stuck with a 3-5-2 formation this term. Allegri will not change a winning formula this weekend, with Paulo Dybala and Higuain set to start together up front and Giorgio Chiellini, Andrea Barzagli and Leonardo Bonucci likely to make up the three-man backline.
Inter have switched between 4-2-3-1, 3-4-3 and 4-3-3 configurations under De Boer, with the former employed in the win over Pescara last Sunday. Mauro Icardi will lead the line at the top of the pitch, with Ivan Perisic and Antonio Candreva the leading contenders to provide support from the flanks, while South American centre-back partners Joao Miranda and Jeison Murillo will attempt to keep Dybala and Higuain relatively quiet at the other end of the pitch.
It is difficult to look past a draw in Sunday’s Derby d’Italia, with both teams probably willing to settle for a share of the spoils: Juventus are clearly further along in their development than Inter but a trip to the San Siro is never easy, while the Nerazzurri would probably be happy enough to extend their unbeaten run against the champions. It could therefore be worth backing a 1-1 draw in this encounter, with Sami Khedira – who has found the back of the net twice in Serie A already this term – a good choice to get his name on the scoresheet.
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