Claudio Ranieri would be looking for a change in fortunes for the Nerazzurri outfit after their indifferent start to the year.
Inter Milan will play hosts to Novara at Stadio Giuseppe Meazza in their 23rd match of the Serie A season on February 12 at 1400 GMT.
The Nerazzurri have been forced to re-align their goals for the season, owing to their less than spectacular form of late. Club President, Massimo Moratti, has been vocal about his displeasure with the outcome of the season so
far, and has asked his players to show their worth to the club.
Skipper, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Javier-Zanetti-c18096, has also acknowledged the President’s call, and has said that his side has not been performing up to their standards
Novara, on the other hand, had a different goal to their season, since their promotion to the top fight. Emiliano Mondonico’s side is sitting in the bottom of the table, and their Serie A status for the next season is under jeopardy.
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Inter-c39567 Milan
If the Nerazzurri outfit wants to stand any chance of breaking into the top three this season, they need to make sure of winning their matches against the minnows.
La Beneamata have had a topsy-turvy campaign so far, as after enjoying a string of eight consecutive wins, they have failed to win in their last four matches. They also crashed out of the Coppa Italia after suffering defeat at
the hands of http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Napoli-c40003 in the quarter-finals. Ranieri’s men suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of AS Roma in their last Serie A match. The defence has been a major worry for them, as it has been breached four times each in the previous two matches.
Novara
The White-Blues broke their run of defeats with a goalless stalemate against Cagliari last weekend. The result of the match also resulted in Novara’s first clean sheet of the season, which proves their inconsistency at the back.
Emiliano Mondonico is highly optimistic and believes that survival in the league is still possible.
The Biancoazzurri are languishing in the bottom of the Serie A standings, and surviving relegation will be nothing short of a miracle.
Novara will take heart from the result of the reverse fixture of the season, where they managed to beat Inter Milan by a convincing margin of 3-1. The win at Stadio Silvio Piola in September was their first victory in 55 years
against the Nerazzurri.
Team news
Inter Milan
Amidst all the despair at Inter, there is some good news on the injury-front, as http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Wesley-Sneijder-c36799 is set to return from injury. His presence would provide Inter with some much needed quality in the midfield.
However, Ranieri has been criticised for employing formations which did not utilise the best out of the former Real Madrid man. The tactician needs to make sure that he finds a solution to Inter’s problems, as time is not on their
side with 22 matches already played.
Probable starting XI: Cesar, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Lucio-c22597, Ranocchia, Chivu, Nagatomo, Zanetti, Poli, Cambiasso, Sneijder, Forlan, Milito
Novara
The visitors are likely to persist with the 4-2-3-1 formation they deployed against Cagliari last weekend. There are no major injury worries for the bottom-placed side.
Probable starting XI: Ujkani, Dellafiore, Lisuzzo, Centurioni, Garcia, Morganella, Pesce, Gemiti, Rigoni, Mascara, Caracciolo.
Player to Watch
Wesley Sneijder (Inter Milan)
It will be interesting to see how Claudio Ranieri utilises the Dutch star in his formation. The former Ajax man can be the missing link to Inter’s revival, as has been the case throughout his Nerazzurri career. The match against
Novara will be an ideal opportunity for him to prove his worth to the former http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Roma-c31603 boss.
Marco Rigoni (Novara)
The Novara captain has been the shining light in Novara’s otherwise disastrous campaign. The skipper would have to make sure that he continues to motivate his troops to get anything from the match.
Prediction
Despite the recent struggles, Inter are likely to regain their lost form and cruise to an easy home win.
Verdict 3-0
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