Internazionale vs Genoa 22/12/19

22 December 2019

Internazionale and Genoa will face off at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza in contrasting circumstances. While the home side battle arch-rivals Juventus for the Serie A (SA) top spot, the visitors are fighting tooth and nail to escape the relegation zone.

After playing out back-to-back SA draws, the hosts have allowed Juventus to cut down the gap at the summit and are now desperate to return to winning ways against the side they defeated in both of their top-flight H2Hs last season. Although both of those triumphs saw Inter keep a clean sheet and score four or more goals apiece, such a scenario is unlikely to repeat now, as Antonio Conte’s men have scored over 2.5 match goals only once in eight SA home outings this term. In fact, the Nerazzurri’s difficulties in the final third have seen them score an average of 1.62 goals per SA home fixture this season. However, the Milanese giants can draw inspiration from their recent home games, having scored precisely two goals per match in three of their last four top-flight home fixtures.

Meanwhile, the visitors are going through a challenging period, having failed to pick up a win in their previous seven SA games (D3, L4). Genoa’s poor run of form has seen them slip to 19th in the table, as they currently trail 17th-placed Udinese by four points. Much of Genoa’s struggling this season is related to their disastrous away performances, as they remain one of two SA sides that are yet to secure a league success away from home (D4, L4). Moreover, only one team has shipped more league goals than the Griffin (31) so far, with 64% of those goals coming on the road. Indeed, Thiago Motta’s players have conceded two or more goals in all but two of their eight SA away games this term, keeping an away clean sheet only once to date.