Coppa Italia: Napoli vs. Inter Milan Preview, Odds and Predictions

Coppa Italia semifinals between Napoli and Inter Milan won’t be postponed because of the Coronavirus. That is the latest info from Naples. Unlike the match between Juventus and AC Milan, this one will go on. I Partenopei have a one-goal lead from the first match played in Milan, brought by Fabian Ruiz. However, Nerrazzuri already demonstrated this season that they could win at San Paolo. All this makes Thursday’s clash very interesting.

Preview

Napoli (+160) is in solid shape with seven wins, two defeats and one draw in the last 10 games. Gennaro Gattuso prefers a conservative, with an accent on defense and counter-attacks. Still, Napoli as a team has tremendous attacking potential, and we often see Partenopei scoring two or more goals per game. What is the most problematic thing for this unit is the inconsistency at home, where they have mixed results, precisely because of the fact that sometimes they overexpose themselves in the desire to attack, and allow some reckless goals. When talking about inconsistency, check this data, Napoli defeated Juve at San Paolo and lost to Lecce in the very next game there.

Inter Milan (+162) had two losses in a row, which severely damaged their prospects to make this season successful. The first one was against Napoli in the opening leg of this matchup, and just four days later, Lazio defeated them at Olimpico, which was a major setback in their title race. Their game against Juventus is postponed, and until then, Nerazzurri will be under heavy pressure. After these failures, Inter had two games in the Europa League knockout stage, and in both of them, the Italians won, netting at least twice. Four of their latest games ended with a moderate efficiency, meaning 2 or 3 goals.

Latest News

Kalidou Koulibaly is out, the same as Kevin Malcuit. These two players are the only ones who aren’t at disposal to Gattuso.

On the other side, Roberto Gagliardini and Victor Moses are questionable. Also, there are slight issues with Samir Handanovic, the starting goalkeeper, but for the moment, all the pieces of information are saying that he should start the match.

Also, all the talks about the possibility of having a game without spectators were ruled out yesterday by the authorities in Naples.

Head to Head Games

As we said, the first game at Meazza ended 0-1. But, the one before that in Seria A, which took place at San Paolo, finished with Inter’s convincing victory, 1-3. It was one of the best games of the season for Conte’s boys, who were pretty dominant in that one.

Prediction

To be straight right away, we expect goals here. Inter’s players will enter this contest with only one thing on their minds, and that is to score two goals. Don’t forget that even if they lose 1-2, an away goal is working in their favor. So over 2.5 goals are the primary suggestion in this case. The odds are solid here and are sitting at -125 at the moment. For braver punters, go with both teams to score and over 2.5 goals. This is at +105 now.

Pick: Over 2.5 goals  -125