Serie A: Inter Milan vs Roma Head to Head Preview
Serie A Leaders Host Roma
Lukaku Returns to the San Siro
Romelu Lukaku won the 2020-21 Serie A with Inter Milan and returned to the San Siro on loan last season. Now, as a member of AS Roma, the striker will face his former club for the first time on Sunday. Roma may need a significant contribution from Lukaku vs. the Serie A leaders. Inter have played excellent football this season and are title favorites at the moment. In our Inter Milan vs Roma head-to-head preview, we’ll look at the latest team news and odds from Sunday’s Serie A match.
Inter Milan vs Roma
Day/Time: Location: San Siro, Milan, Italy
Head-to-Head:
The road team won both Serie A games between Inter Milan and Roma last season. Federico Dimarco scored in Inter’s 2-0 win at Roma and the 2-1 loss at the San Siro. Inter have won five of the last six meetings between the two sides, in all competitions. The Nerazzurri have also lost just one of the previous 12 Inter Milan vs Roma head-to-head matchups. During that time, they have a 5-6-1 record vs. Roma.
Inter Milan: Serie A’s Most Dominant Team
Inter Milan took the Serie A lead with last weekend’s 3-0 rout of Torino. All of Inter’s scoring came in the second half, and Marcus Thuram opened up their account in the 59th minute. Lautaro Martinez scored his Serie A-leading 11th goal of the season in the 67th minute. Hakan Calhanoglu converted a stoppage-time penalty for good measure. In the process, Yann Sommer kept his sixth clean sheet of the season.
Nerazzurri players are currently dominating the Serie A stats. Martinez leads the league in goals, Sommer leads in clean sheets, and Thuram has a league-leading five assists so far. Simone Inzaghi has put together a formidable side that should challenge on all fronts this season. Inter also picked up a 2-1 win over RB Salzburg in the Champions League and hasn’t yet lost in the UCL through three matches.
Inter are the team to beat in Serie A, and Roma boss Jose Mourinho said this week that the Nerazzurri should win the league “by 20 points”. They do have a lot of depth, as players like Davide Frattesi, Benjamin Pavard, and Alexis Sanchez haven’t even started half of Inter’s Serie A games. The Nerazzurri have also outscored their opponents by more than two goals per game so far.
Mourinho Banned on Sunday
Roma manager Jose Mourinho can’t seem to stay out of trouble. When Stephan El Shaarawy scored a 90th-minute winner for the Giallorossi vs. Monza last weekend, Mourinho made a crying gesture toward the Monza bench. As a result, the referee red card Mourinho and the legendary Portuguese manager will serve a one-game touchline ban this weekend. Mourinho also served the third game of a four-game UEFA touchline ban on Thursday.
Roma defeated Slavia Prague 2-0 without Mourinho on the touchline on Thursday. Edoardo Bove opened up the scoring within a minute, and Romelu Lukaku doubled the Giallorossi’s lead about 15 minutes later. Roma started off the season slowly, but they’ve been an improved pick for soccer betting over the last few matches.
The Giallorossi have won their last five matches, in all competitions. They’ve kept clean sheets in four of those matches and have outscored their opponents 13-1 in the process. Lukaku has been playing well lately, with five goals in his last five appearances. Paulo Dybala has returned to training, but a number of Roma players are injured. Leonardo Spinazzola, Sardar Azmoun, Lorenzo Pellegrini, Renato Sanches, Tammy Abraham, and Marash Kumbulla could all miss out, though.
Match Analysis & Odds
The Nerazzurri have dominated the recent Inter Milan vs Roma head-to-head matchups, and they’re expected to get a win here. Currently, Inter Milan shows -160 odds to win Sunday’s match and stay on top of the Serie A table. Roma have looked a bit vulnerable in transition over the last few matches and will need to be careful with an Inter side that can win in multiple ways.
Roma comes into this match as +440 underdogs, and bettors can take Roma +0.5, and +1 at +105 odds as well. Inter haven’t won either of their last two home Serie A matches, but Inter -0.5, -1 sits at -125 odds here. Lautaro Martinez has scored a ridiculous six goals in Inter’s last three Serie A games, though. Both teams have in-form strikers, as former Nerazzurri man Romelu Lukaku has been scoring in bunches too.
From January 2018 to January 2021, these teams drew six Serie A games in a row. Here, a draw is priced at +300 odds. Both team’s Serie A matches this season have averaged over three goals per game, but under 2.5 goals display -120 odds for this one.
For Serie A betting news, odds analysis, and more, visit Point Spreads Sports Magazine.
