Juventus vs Inter Milan
Both Juventus and Inter Milan started their respective International Champions Cup campaigns by suffering losses to English opposition in Singapore.
Inter went down 1-0 to Manchester United while Juventus suffered a shock 3-2 defeat to Tottenham. That match made International Champions Cup 2019 news for Harry Kane’s amazing stoppage-time winner from the halfway line.
The two rivals now collide in China for a Derby d’Italia matchup that should be a treat for all SBOBET football fans around the world.
Most International Champions Cup 2019 predictions will likely fancy Juventus in this match. But Antonio Conte always has a few things up his sleeve and could have something special planned in his first meeting against his old club.
Talking Points
Juve still adjusting to Sarri-ball
Juventus are still a bit of a work in progress on both ends of the pitch under new manager Maurizio Sarri, and it showed in their defeat to Tottenham.
Their attack wasn’t exactly purring in the first half. They weren’t particularly sharp playing out from the back, which is a new wrinkle under Sarri. Spurs’ pressing caused them a good deal of problems with progressing the ball.
Meanwhile, their defence wasn’t looking as secure as it did under Massimiliano Allegri. They were caught out by a Spurs counter-attack, which led to Erik Lamela’s opening goal at the half-hour mark.
They looked much sharper in the second half, though, with substitute Gonzalo Higuain and Cristiano Ronaldo producing a couple of fine finishes to hand Juve the lead. It’s another indication of the sheer quality they have in their squad.
But again, their defence looked shaky as two costly errors led to two Spurs goals. New signings Matthijs de Ligt, who was officially signed last week, and Adrien Rabiot did not have the best debuts. Rabiot, in particular, gave the ball away for Kane’s late wonder strike.
Both figure to be key players for Juve, so Sarri will look to get both of them — as well as the rest of the squad — up to speed ahead of the new season.
Inter lacking firepower
Similar to Juve, Inter Milan are also working out a new style of play under new manager Antonio Conte. But Conte’s big problem — at least for this tournament — is that he is currently short on strikers.
Former captain Mauro Icardi is no longer part of their plans and is on his way out of the club, Lautaro Martinez is on a break after representing Argentina in the Copa America, and Inter still haven’t sealed a deal for Romelu Lukaku after their bid of £54 million was rejected by Manchester United.
As a result, Conte had to start Samuele Longo and 17-year-old Sebastiano Esposito in attack against United with Ivan Perisic on the bench. Neither Longo nor Esposito was able to register a shot, while the team had just eight shots in total (one on target).
Inter will likely continue to find it difficult to create much of anything going forward against Juventus. Their simple lack of attacking talent will be a major challenge to overcome.
But Conte is still capable of organising a defence which will be equally difficult to break down. And after seeing Spurs exploit Juve on the counter-attack, Inter could follow a similar plan and try to catch Juve out on the break.
History
Juventus have had the upper hand over rivals Inter for the past decade. In their last 20 Derby D’Italia meetings in Serie A, Juve have won 11 times while Inter have won just three, while there have been six draws.
Juventus beat Inter 1-0 at home last season thanks to a Mario Mandzukic goal and drew 1-1 at the San Siro. Inter’s last win against the Old Lady came all the way back in 2016.
Prior to their defeat against Manchester United, Inter had won four out of their last five International Champions Cup matches.
Betting Tip
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Juventus vs Inter Milan | Under 2.50 Goals @ 2.03 |
| July 24, 19:30 (GMT+8) |
I don’t anticipate this match being the goal-fest that Juventus-Spurs eventually turned into. Juventus-Inter matches are historically low-scoring affairs, with just two of their last eight meetings having more than two goals.
Of course, Juventus are no longer the cautious, defence-first side that they were for most of those matches under Allegri, but Conte will almost definitely be ready to keep things tight at the back. The likes of Higuain and Ronaldo will be given quite a test.
And given their lack of reliable attacking options at the moment, it’s unlikely that Inter will be contributing too many goals to the contest.
A SHORT EXPLANATION ON HOW OUR ( ) BETS ARE WORTH: |
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| = €20 (Highly confident) |
 = €10 (CONFIDENT) |
= €5 (SOMEWHAT CONFIDENT) |
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Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.
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