Overview
Since the victory over Juventus in the most recent Derby d'Italia match, Inter Milan has had difficulty maintaining high form in three different arenas - coinciding with the absence of captain Lautaro Martinez.
Two consecutive defeats against Bodo/Glimt caused them to be eliminated from the UEFA Champions League. After that, Inter successively defeated Genoa, drew goalless with Como in the Coppa Italia, but lost to AC Milan in the Derby della Madonnina match.
Next, Cristian Chivu's team was equalized by Atalanta in the final minutes, before experiencing a 3-match winless streak in Serie A - for the first time since April 2023.
Before the national team gathering, Inter dropped the lead early and only drew 1-1 against Fiorentina at Franchi stadium. This result narrowed their leading gap in Serie A to 7 points.
However, Chivu's first season can still be closed with a domestic double, when the Coppa Italia semi-final between Inter and Como will be the second leg at home at the end of the month. In the domestic arena, Inter is still very difficult to defeat at home this season with 11 wins, 2 draws and only 2 defeats in Serie A.
Now, one day before Milan and Napoli meet in Campania, Inter will aim to regain form when welcoming AS Roma - the team they once beat 1-0 in the first leg in October.
After previous difficulties at San Siro, Roma has won two of their last three away games against Inter, in which Matias Soule once scored the decisive goal for Giallorossi here less than a year ago.
After the defeat in the UEFA Europa League against Bologna, Roma closed the pre-international break period with a 1-0 victory over Lecce, thereby ending a 5-match winless streak.
This result helps them have the same 54 points as Juventus, only 3 points behind fourth-placed Como in the race to win a Champions League spot. However, ahead of them is the challenging final stage of the season.
Roma will have to face Atalanta, Fiorentina, Bologna and the arch-rival Lazio in turn, making the remaining journey extremely harsh.
Head coach Gian Piero Gasperini - who had a short period of unsuccess at Inter - has lost to Nerazzurri more than any other opponent (18/32 encounters).
In addition, Roma plays away from home much less effectively, and their most recent away victory in all competitions has been since January. In fact, seven out of 10 defeats in Serie A for the capital team this season have taken place away from home, making this away trip risky.
Personnel situation
Despite facing much criticism, Bastoni can still play this weekend for Inter Milan, as Yann Bisseck and Carlos Augusto are both absent. Francesco Acerbi is also likely to start.
If given the opportunity, Acerbi will face dangerous striker Donyell Malen of AS Roma - who has scored 7 goals in Serie A since joining the team in mid-January, the best achievement in the league in this period.
Gian Piero Gasperini is forced to place his trust in the Dutch international in the context of a lack of force in the attack. Although Paulo Dybala and Artem Dovbyk are gradually returning, Evan Ferguson is still sidelined due to an ankle injury.
Meanwhile, Matias Soule and Inter's transfer target Manu Kone have returned to full training. However, Wesley suffered a muscle injury while on international duty and will have to be out of action for at least two weeks.
Expected lineup:
Inter Milan: Sommer, Akanji, Acerbi, Bastoni, Dumfries, Barella, Calhanoglu, Zielinski, Dimarco, Thuram, Martinez.
Svilar, Mancini, Ndicka, Hermoso, Celik, Cristante, El Aynaoui, Tsimikas, Soule, Pellegrini, Malen.
The match between Inter and Roma takes place at 1:45 am on April 6 (Vietnam time).
