The 64th Derby d'Italia(Derby of Italy) takes place today at 19:45 GMT at the Allianz Stadium in Turin. A match between two household names in Italy and European football face each other again this time in a top of the table affair.
Inter Milan come into this game 3 points clear adrift of Juventus who have 29 points. In recent games played before the international break, the home side Juventus went 6 matches unbeaten having amassed 5 wins and a draw whereas Inter Milan have 6 wins in a row. Inter Milan are joint first in the Champions League as well; a competition they were finalists last season.
Out of the 63 meetings between both sides, Juventus have come up top wining 26 out of them, losing 15 and 22 draws. There is goals in the fixture as both teams score an average close to 2.5 per game. In the last 18 fixtures; going back to 2018, Inter Milan have won 5, drew 5 and lost 8 out of them to Juventus. In this statistics,. Juventus will feel they have an upper hand over Inter Milan but the boys Milan would say their form this season is relentless to be played with.
Both Managers heading into this match have showed their concerns for Massimiliano Allegri he says "the Derby d'Italia is the first big game back after the international break. It is perhaps going to as early title decider. I know we are only in November but Inter looks like by far the best team in the Serie A at the moment in time.
The Inter Milan boss shared his thought by saying " it'll take a lot of focus. Juve is a team with physically strong and quality players, we will need to pay great attention. Juventus have players that can change the game at any moment, we need to be extremely focused."
Both managers expressing their intentions on the qualities of their opponents but some players would be unavailable. Benjamin Pavard, Alessandro Bastoni,Juan Cuodrado, Tim Weah, Danilo, Alex Sandro, Mattia de Sciglio will be unavailable for both sides due to Injuries while Paul Pogba and Nicolo Fagilo will be unavailable for Juventus due to doping suspension and gambling respectively.
The Derby d'Italia have always been fascinating to watch and this one would not be an exception. Even with the Injuries and suspension, this Derby is still a title decider and a heavy clash between two Italian giants.
By Daniel Okyere
