The Daily Star Ireland
Inter Milan, who narrowly lost the Champions League final to Manchester City two years ago, has reestablished itself as a major force in European football. Last year, they won their 20th Serie A title and are looking for redemption in the Champions League after being knocked out by Arsenal on penalties in the round of 16.
So far, Inter has performed impressively, defeating Arsenal 1-0, Young Boys of Bern 1-0 with a late goal from Marcus Thuram, and thrashing Red Star Belgrade 4-0. They also managed a 0-0 draw against Manchester City, keeping their unbeaten record intact in this year’s competition.
Domestically, Inter is also in excellent form, sitting in the top four of Serie A. Just before the international break, they drew 1-1 with Napoli, extending their unbeaten run to ten matches across all competitions. Last weekend, they continued their strong form with a match against Hellas Verona.
On the other hand, RB Leipzig is struggling in this new Champions League format, having lost all four of their matches so far. Their challenging draw included an away defeat to Atlético Madrid (2-1), a home loss to Juventus (3-2), and a narrow defeat to Liverpool (1-0).
They also suffered a disappointing 3-1 loss to Celtic Glasgow. In the Bundesliga, their form hasn’t been much better, with a loss to Borussia Dortmund (2-1) followed by a goalless draw against Borussia Mönchengladbach. Last weekend, they traveled to Hoffenheim hoping to turn their fortunes around.
For the match against Arsenal, Inter coach Simone Inzaghi will be without Carlos Augusto due to injury, but the rest of the squad is available. Key players include Marcus Thuram, who has scored seven goals and provided two assists in Serie A, Lautaro Martinez, and Iranian international Mehdi Taremi, who impressed during the international break with a hat-trick of assists against North Korea and a goal against Kyrgyzstan. Left-back Federico Dimarco is also set to play.
RB Leipzig will rely heavily on Benjamin Sesko, who has scored three goals in the Champions League, but will miss several key players. Castello Lukeba is out with an injury, and Dutch talent Xavi Simons, German international David Raum, and long-term absentee Xaver Schlager are also unavailable.
However, Austrian international Christoph Baumgartner, Lois Openda (five goals in the Bundesliga), and Hungarian international Willi Orban, who has scored two goals in the league, will be in the squad.
Prediction
It has been uncommon for both teams to score in recent Inter home matches, with only six of their last 19 league games seeing both sides on the scoresheet. Additionally, RB Leipzig has either failed to score or kept a clean sheet in each of their last four away Champions League matches, making a low-scoring game likely.
Prediction: Inter 2-0 RB Leipzig
