Derby d'Italia: Juventus vs Inter Milan match preview

Juventus and Inter Milan are the two biggest clubs in Italian football and will meet in Serie A after this international break.

The Old Lady dominated the Italian top flight for a decade before 2021, and Inter Milan unseated them as champions under Antonio Conte.

Inter has not won another league crown since then, but the balance of power between both clubs in domestic and European football has changed.

Max Allegri won five consecutive league crowns with the Bianconeri between 2014 and 2019 during his first spell as their manager, but they replaced him with a new boss.

Juve won the league for one more season before a painful experiment with Andrea Pirlo as their gaffer cost them the league title at the end of the 2020/2021 campaign.

Since that time, they have not won a single trophy and are without European football in this campaign, which is a new low.

Inter Milan has grown from strength to strength in the last few seasons and reached the final Champions League in the previous term.

The Nerazzurri are one of the top sides on the continent now and are desperate to win another league crown.

In Italy, there is no team that has a stronger squad than Simone Inzaghi's side, which is why most people have tipped them to win the league.

The Milan side seems to have at least two good players in each position in their squad, which is a remarkable amount of depth.

They have lost just a single game this season, winning ten and picking up a draw in their other fixture.

Inter did not concede a single goal during the opening weeks of the term and has bagged 29 strikes in the league so far while conceding just six.

This stat shows they are a superb team in defence and attack, and it is hard not to consider them one of the clubs to watch in Italian football. Are they better than Juventus?

Juventus' dominance of the last decade

Juventus has won a record 36 Serie A titles throughout its existence, easily making them the best club in Italian football.

The Old Lady enjoyed one of its best periods between 2012 and 2020 when they won the league for nine consecutive seasons.

During that spell, they were the best Italian team on the planet, and no other side could come close to them.

They also reached the final of the Champions League in 2015 and 2017, proving they are a team to reckon with in Europe.

Inter was far below Juve during this period and was nowhere near its rivals since it won the league, Cup, and Champions League treble in 2010 under Jose Mourinho.

But that all changed in 2019 when Antonio Conte became their gaffer as he turned them into a powerhouse again.

Inter Milan's reemergence

Inter reclaimed the league crown from Juventus in 2021, two seasons after Conte had come to town.

It is worth noting that Conte won Juve's first league crown in 2012 and defended it in 2013 before leaving the Old Lady like he always does when he does not feel supported at any club.

Since he arrived in Milan in 2019, he changed the culture at Inter and set a standard that the team still follows to this day, improving the number of fans who buy Inter Milan tickets.

The Nerazzurri finished second in Serie A last term and won the Italian Cup and Italian Super Cup while reaching the final of the Champions League.

There is hardly a better time to be an Inter Milan fan and their supporters will relish seeing their team secure all the points in their match against Juventus after the international break.

Juventus vs Inter Milan match preview

Inter will visit Juventus on a fine run of form, having won all their last four league games and with a two-point cushion on their rivals.

The Nerazzurri are also doing well in Europe, with three wins from their last three matches.

They are also unbeaten in their last nine matches in all competitions, so they will play this game on a terrific run of form.

But Juve is also doing well ahead of this match, as they have lost none of their last seven competitive games.

The Old Lady, benefiting from not playing in Europe, has also won the last five on the trot and six of the last seven leading up to this cracking fixture.

Juve has scored 19 league goals this term, which suggests goals are a problem for them, but what they do not have in attack, they more than makeup for it in defence.

Max Allegri's side has been breached just seven times all season long and has one of the strongest defence in Europe.

Juve has kept seven clean sheets in their last ten competitive matches and would relish the chance to show their defensive solidity against Inter.

Inter has dominated the recent head-to-head matches between both clubs as they have not lost any of the last two, winning one.

But those games came in the semi-final of the Italian Cup last term. In the league, Juve defeated them in both games, scoring three goals and conceding none in the matches.

Juve knows how to win challenging games, which is a significant boost for their confidence ahead of this game.

Who has the better squad?

Inter and Juve have the resources that most of the other Serie A clubs do not have, and this is why both have been tipped to win the league.

As we disclosed earlier, Inter has a squad packed with quality and can boast two top players in each position on the pitch.

The Nerazzurri have the perfect blend of youth and experience from defence to attack, with the likes of Yann Sommer in goal, Acerbi Francesco, Bastoni Alessandro, and Denzel Dumfries in defence.

In midfield, the very reliable Calhanoglu Hakan is joined by the likes of Davide Frattesi, Nicolo Barella and Stefano Sensi, among others. Most of these players have a point to prove this term.

Juve's squad is considered much weaker, not because they do not have good players, but because the Bianconeri do not have Inter's balance.

Allegri has also lost Paul Pogba and Nicolo Fagioli, who have both been banned for the rest of this season.

This has further reduced value from their squad, but with Dusan Vlahovic, Federico Chiesa, Manuel Locatelli, Danilo, and Adrien Rabiot, Juve has a few players who can lead them to win the league title.

The game against Inter will be their biggest fixture so far, and their group will be tested to its limit if they get a result from the fixture.

The Derby d'Italia comes up immediately after the international break, which could be a bad or good thing.

Juve and Inter have many players involved during the break for their countries and the condition of these players when they return could play a key role in how they all perform.

Apart from suffering an injury that will rule out a player, some could be tired from exerting themselves to help their country during the break.

Both managers pray that none of their players returns in poor shape because the fine margins count in a game like this.