Inter Milan will be looking to extend their winning streak to five matches when they take on Parma at the San Siro on Saturday.
Inter Milan will be hoping to extend their unbeaten record to five games when they take on Parma at the San Siro stadium on Saturday. The Nerazzurri have returned to their best after a dismal beginning to their campaign, and currently lie in fifth position with 26 points, eight points behind league leaders and crosstown rivals AC Milan.
If Inter manage to overcome Parma, who find themselves in 13th place and winless in their last five games, they will be in confident mood to confront their final two matches of the first round which are incidentally against two of their direct rivals in AC Milan and Lazio.
Inter are the overwhelming favourites to claim the three points, however, Claudio Ranieri will have to make do without the services of Dutch playmaker Wesley Sneijder and Uruguayan striker Diego Forlan, while both Jonathan and Cristian Chivu are in doubt for the clash at the San Siro.
Ranieri has selected a well-balanced side with Giampaolo Pazzini and Argentine striker Diego Milito his preferred attacking partnership. Inter will begin the game with nine South Americans in their line-up, including Brazilian-born Italian international Thiago Motta.
Opponents Parma come into the match having drawn their last four matches, and they will clearly want to change that statistic by upsetting Inter, in a crucial clash considering that they are in the bottom end of the table.
The good news for Parma boss Franco Colomba is that he has the luxury to field a full-strength squad, besides Cristiano Lucarelli who will sit out the match due to suspension. As was expected, Colomba will approach the game with a defensive approach, where he will ask his side to sit back and absorb pressure before hitting Inter on the break.
Inter have a favourable history against Parma at the San Siro, after having claimed 13 wins and 6 draws in twenty encounters between the sides. The Nerazzurri have scored 40 goals and conceded only 18. Parma's only victory at the San Siro came in May of 1999.
In the last meeting between the sides, Inter hammered Parma 5-2 with a hat-trick from Dejan Stankovic and other goals from Esteban Cambiasso and Motta. While, veteran striker Hernan Crespo scored both goals for Parma.
If Inter manage to overcome Parma, who find themselves in 13th place and winless in their last five games, they will be in confident mood to confront their final two matches of the first round which are incidentally against two of their direct rivals in AC Milan and Lazio.
Inter are the overwhelming favourites to claim the three points, however, Claudio Ranieri will have to make do without the services of Dutch playmaker Wesley Sneijder and Uruguayan striker Diego Forlan, while both Jonathan and Cristian Chivu are in doubt for the clash at the San Siro.
Ranieri has selected a well-balanced side with Giampaolo Pazzini and Argentine striker Diego Milito his preferred attacking partnership. Inter will begin the game with nine South Americans in their line-up, including Brazilian-born Italian international Thiago Motta.
Opponents Parma come into the match having drawn their last four matches, and they will clearly want to change that statistic by upsetting Inter, in a crucial clash considering that they are in the bottom end of the table.
The good news for Parma boss Franco Colomba is that he has the luxury to field a full-strength squad, besides Cristiano Lucarelli who will sit out the match due to suspension. As was expected, Colomba will approach the game with a defensive approach, where he will ask his side to sit back and absorb pressure before hitting Inter on the break.
Inter have a favourable history against Parma at the San Siro, after having claimed 13 wins and 6 draws in twenty encounters between the sides. The Nerazzurri have scored 40 goals and conceded only 18. Parma's only victory at the San Siro came in May of 1999.
In the last meeting between the sides, Inter hammered Parma 5-2 with a hat-trick from Dejan Stankovic and other goals from Esteban Cambiasso and Motta. While, veteran striker Hernan Crespo scored both goals for Parma.
