Inter have seen a drop in domestic form recently as they have won just one out of their previous four Serie A games and this slump has come just before they return to the Champions League.
Inter welcome Liverpool in the first leg of the Round of 16 clash on Wednesday night and the Italians go into this crucial match at the back of a 1-1 draw against Napoli.
This is the first meeting between the two sides since 2007/08 and the Serie A side go into this game as the second favourites. They have only won three of their last 11 Champions League home matches and to make matters worse, Liverpool are undefeated in their last six matches across all competitions.
The Inter boss has a few absentees going into this game so he might have to use a few players out of position, something which could turn out to be the undoing for the Serie A side on Wednesday.
Inter’s team news vs Liverpool:
Alessandro Bastoni missed the Napoli game on the weekend but he will be back in the side to face Liverpool. He will replace Dimarco as the left-sided centre-back.
Nicolo Barella is suspended for the first leg after he picked up a red card in Inter’s final group game and this will be a major blow for the Italian side. In Barella’s absence, Arturo Vidal is expected to come into the side but the South American will definitely not have the same sort of impact.
Happy 25th Birthday, Nicolò Barella! ✨🥳
With #Inter:
🔵 116 appearances
⚽️ 9 goals
🅰️ 29 assists
🏆 1x Champion of Italy
🏆 1x Super Champion of Italy
🏆 1x Serie A Midfielder of the Year pic.twitter.com/JDZYW5FxS6— Inter Xtra (@Inter_Xtra) February 7, 2022
Robin Gosens is still not 100% fit which means Ivan Perisic will once again have to play as the left wing-back and this could be another point of weakness in the Inter line up.
Alexis Sanchez came off the bench during the weekend and he will be pushing for a start but there’s no way the manager is going to drop either Edin Dzeko or Lautaro Martinez.
Apart from Barella, Joaquín Correa is the other player who is set to miss out on Wednesday since the 27-year-old hasn’t yet recovered from a hamstring injury.
Inter are not in the best of forms going into this all-important tie but they very much have the firepower to shock a team like Liverpool and take a handsome lead to Anfield for the return leg.
Inter predicted line up vs Liverpool:
Predicted Starting Line up(3-5-2): Handanovic; Vrij, Bastoni, Skriniar; Brozovic, Vidal, Calhanouglu, Perisic, Dumfries; Martinez, Dzeko.
Read: Liverpool team news vs Inter – UCL.
Read: Liverpool set to join Chelsea, Man United and Man City in the race to sign this 23Y/O midfielder.
Stats via Fotmob.
