Inter – Lecce

Inter will inflict a crushing defeat on a depleted opponent

On Sunday, Inter hosted Napoli in the centerpiece of the round. Dimarco's goal in the ninth minute put Inter ahead. Despite their dominance, the Nerazzurri conceded. McTominay equalized in the first half, and the teams went to halftime level. Çalhanoğlu's goal in the 73rd minute seemed to decide the match. However, McTominay scored again in the second half, denying Napoli a point. This draw ended the three-match winning run of Kivu's side. Before that, Inter had beaten Parma 2-0, Bologna 3-1 and Atalanta 1-0. Lecce faced Parma at Via del Mare. The match began best for the Wolves – with a quick goal. Stulic had already put his team ahead in the first minute. The game settled down and only came to life after a red card to a Wolves player. In the 57th minute Banda received a straight red, and seven minutes later the Crusaders equalized. Not long after, the Gialloblu scored a second. It seems this seriously frustrated the Apulians, because instead of trying to salvage a draw they received a second red. A week earlier, under Di Francesco, Lecce's side were beaten by Roma 0-2 with little chance. The last time these teams met was at the start of last year. Inter, without much difficulty, earned an away win over the Apulians 4-0. The first-round meeting of that season ended with Inter 2-0 Parma. Interestingly, meetings between the clubs in the 23/24 season also ended with similar results. Notably, the Nerazzurri's goalscoring pace has been incredible this season. In 19 matches, Christian Kivu's men have scored 42 goals, but the xG metric still shows a shortfall of 2.57 goals. The Giallorossi have conceded 27 goals, but they have a deficit in xGA. The metric shows that the Apulians could have conceded almost four more times. In addition to the abundance of injuries, Lecce will miss Banda, Gaspar and Ramadani due to suspensions. Obviously, Di Francesco's bench will hardly be able to compensate for such significant losses. Christian Kivu will rotate, but even with a weakened XI his side will be several times stronger than the opponent. Lecce won't be able to cope with the snake's attack, which will lead to a predictable rout.