Inter vs Lazio: Nerazzurri wary of soaring Aquile

Inter will be quite wary of high-flying Lazio when the two sides clash at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza this Sunday.

The Nerazzurri are having another excellent campaign under Antonio Conte’s tenure, and after finishing as runners-up last season, Inter will be seeking to finally get their hands on the Scudetto. It’s been a decade since another team besides Juventus have won the league title, and Inter’s last victory was in 2010. That also happened to be the year the Milan giants made history as the first Italian team to win the Treble, but since then, things haven’t gone so swimmingly for them.

That is, until recently. Inter were only beaten to the Scudetto by one point. Had they drawn fewer fixtures, it’s certain that they would have pipped Juventus to the title, especially as the Bianconeri, then under the leadership of Maurizio Sarri, tailed off at the end of the season and ended up losing to Roma, and surprisingly, Cagliari and Udinese. Conte’s squad were also very unfortunate to lose in then the Europa League final – their first European final appearance since 2010 – to perpetual winners Sevilla.

This season has seen Inter fail to qualify for either the Champions League or Europa League group stages after finishing last in their quartet. The Nerazzurri were beaten by Juventus in the Coppa Italia semi-finals. This means that the only trophy left for Conte is the Scudetto, and now in his sophomore term at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, he will know that his bosses will expect nothing less.

Despite Juventus halting their Coppa Italia journey, Inter had beaten the Bianconeri earlier in Serie A on home turf, and come into this match having eased to a 2-0 victory against Fiorentina. Having lost just twice this season, Conte’s side sit two points behind cross-town rivals Milan. And with the Rossoneri suffering a shock loss to debutants Spezia, Inter, who have a game in hand are now in prime position to take over top spot.

However, they will be facing the most in-form side in not just Italy, but across Europe’s major leagues. Lazio will be seeking a seventh straight Serie A victory when they come to town on Sunday. Although Inter has a formidable home record – just one loss from their last ten (eight wins, one draw) – Lazio are no slouches when it comes to picking up points on the road, with just two losses in their last ten away fixtures (six wins, two draws).

Led by last season’s Capocanniere winner, Simone Inzaghi’s troops have benefited from Ciro Immobile’s purple patch of form. The former Torino and Dortmund man has been on a red-hot streak, with eight goals in his last ten matches. Cristiano Ronaldo may be on top of the scoring charts, but Immobile is rapidly moving up in the ranks. Along with Romelu Lukaku and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Immobile currently sits on 14 goals, putting him in a good position to defend his Capocannoniere crown if he continues scoring regularly – especially as both Ibrahimovic and Ronaldo failed to find the back of the net as their respective sides slumped to defeats against Spezia and Napoli respectively on Saturday.

In fact, with both Milan and Juventus losing, this game now has become even more decisive. Inter now have a golden opportunity to return to the top of the table, while Lazio could jump into fourth spot. The Aquile are also the only team who have yet to lose so far in 2021 – and that’s just in Italy, but across Europe’s major leagues. And while Immobile is the source of many of their goals, Lazio are not overdependent on the Italian international as they are presently on a 17 match scoring streak in the league – which shows that others can certainly step up and shoulder some of the burden.

So, with Inter and Lazio in excellent form at home and away respectively, it goes without saying that this match looks set to be a real tussle at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza. Will Inter be able to pick up all three points and ascend to the apex of the table? Or will Lazio continue their impressive form that has seen them inch their way back up towards a top four spot?