I’d say Inter Milan are the Serie A champions in waiting and, while manager Cristian Chivu certainly won’t admit it, it would take an unlikely collapse from I Nerazzurri to open the door for their rivals.
And the Serie A 2026 betting odds certainly agree with me.
On Saturday Inter pulled off a statement 3-2 win over Juventus to stay eight points clear in the race for the Scudetto, while I Bianconeri are stuck in fifth and in a fierce battle for a European place. But the leaders were made to work hard for this win, with a late strike from Piotr Zielinski dividing the two giants.
The Derby D’Italia has seen some incredible tussles in recent years, including a 4-3 win for Juventus in September. And this one had enough Serie A 2026 highlights to last a month, from the moment Andrea Cambiaso put through his own net on 17 minutes. Luis Henrique’s ball across the danger area deflected off Cambiaso and Juve keeper Michele Di Gregorio was left stranded.
It only took the fullback Cambiaso ten minutes to make amends when he tapped in at the far post when a cross from Weston McKennie evaded the Inter back line. But any joy in the away end quickly dissipated when they went down to ten men in bizarre circumstances. Alessandro Bastoni poked a shot towards goal which rebounded out after hitting both posts and, as Juve tried to smuggle the ball away Pierre Kalulu, who was already on a yellow card, brought down Bastoni and the referee waved a second yellow which turned red. VAR can’t intervene on a yellow card so Kalulu had nowhere to go, other than down the tunnel.
The angered Old Lady fought hard and held out until the 76th minute when the excellent Federico Dimarco registered his 14th assist of the campaign with a cross for Pio Esposito to head home. But Juve weren’t done and Manuel Locatelli levelled when McKennie made his second assist of the game as Locatelli swept home a first time effort. That was on 83 minutes and the clock had ticked along to 90 when Zielinski drilled home a powerful strike to lift the roof off the stadium.
Six wins from six have allowed I Nerazzurri to pull away from the chasing pack, the nearest rival being Milan, who have won four and drawn two.
Milan are hanging in there…just
I Rossoneri picked up a crucial win on Friday night to stay in the hunt thanks to a late winner from Luke Modric in a 2-1 win over Pisa, a result which plunged the hosts into deeper trouble at the bottom of the table.
After a frustrating first half Ruben Loftus Cheek lifted the pressure off Milan when he bulleted home a header six minutes before the break. And six minutes after half time, Niclas Fullkrug had a chance to double the lead from the penalty spot after Strahinja Pavlovic had drawn a foul, but he missed his chance clipping the outside of the post. And that miss looked to be very costly when Felipe Loyola levelled for the hosts on 71 minutes, but the evergreen Modric saved the day when he slid the ball home after a smart one two with Samuele Ricci.
But, despite holding on for the 2-1 win, manager Max Allegri had more frustration to cope with when his enigmatic midfielder Adrien Rabiot was sent off for two yellow cards within 20 seconds, one for a clumsy foul and the second for dissent.
La Dea is on the charge
Atalanta’s clash with Lazio was billed by my SBOTOP colleague Jordan as a Euro Tug of War and it was La Dea who stood firm in Rome to make it four wins and two draws from the last six league games, a run which has seen them climb up to sixth place in the table, a great comeback for manager Raffaele Palladino after La Dea laboured through the first half of the campaign.
A tight game with 50 per cent possession and five shots on target each tilted Atalata’s way when Ederson slotted home a penalty just before the break, after Lazio skipper Danilo Cataldi had handled. Lazio thought they had a penalty of their own when Davide Zappacosta appeared to have handled in his own penalty area, but VAR found Nuno Tavares was offside in the build up. And Lazio’s day got worse when Polish midfielder Nicola Zalewski fired home on the hour to make it 2-0.
With their old boss Gian Piero Gasperini’s Roma now in Atalanta’s sights, this promises to be a thrilling chase for the top four places; with 13 rounds still to play.
●●●
CHECK OUT OUR BLOG FOR MORE FOOTBALL STORIES & ODDS
Stay updated with everything sports and betting.
