Inter – Udinese

Udinese will resist the favourite

Inter lost points after winning two consecutive fixtures. Quite unexpectedly, but quite rightly, the Serpents failed to take three points in Genoa. The lacklustre performance was marked by a scandal. During the first half, Barella and Lukaku clashed. Globally, this situation has little impact, but it speaks of internal strife in the team. Discord, including against the backdrop of Inter's poor performance. It is worth noting that the Nerazzurri have achieved only one win by more than one goal in 2023. That was in the Italian Super Cup tie against AC Milan. Victories over Napoli, Verona, Atalanta and Milan (already in the championship) were 1-0. Simone Inzaghi's side have also beaten Cremonese 1-2, lost to Empoli 0-1 and shared points with Monza 2-2. All predictions for Inter in this encounter must be made with the upcoming European Cup match in mind. The Nerazzurri will host Porto in the Champions League on Wednesday, four days after the match in question. Obviously, the match against the Portuguese club is a much higher priority and Inzaghi will field players now with thoughts of the next encounter. Therefore, it won't be a surprise to see some rotation from the Snakes. Udinese have twice shared points after beating Sampdoria and once lost. Last time round, the Friulians played out a solid draw with Sassuolo. Sottil's side deserved to win. If in the first part of the season the team was overmatched in terms of statistics, now the opposite situation has arisen. For example, the Friulians are 3.37 points short of the xPTS (points-expectation) mark. Udinese have more than once proved their ability to face teams from the Eurocup zone. Yes, after a phenomenal start, the team has not failed in games against stronger opponents. Thus, the Friuli side have shared points with Atalanta (2-2) and Lazio (0-0), while defeats to Napoli (3-2) and Juventus (1-0) were only marginally worse. That said, there are far more factors on Sottile's side now than in some of the above-mentioned matches. Inter are unlikely to inflict a heavy defeat on their opponents. And if the Serpents win, it will be by one goal at the most.