Saturday marks the first Derby d’Italia of the 2012/2013 Serie A between Juventus and Inter Milan. The main storyline of the game is the fact that the arch rivals are first and second respectively, but there is much more behind this encounter than usual.

This is a battle of the best at home and away. Juve come in with five wins from five at the Juventus Stadium, the host venue, and Inter have also won all five of their matches on the road. Inter have conceded just once in an away tilt, a 3-1 victory at Bologna on October 28th. Along with that, they’ve scored eleven times. This despite media and fans saying that the Nerazzurri are suspect at the back and have much more to offer up front. While that is true, Inter look like a different team when they travel. Juventus are of course no pushovers at home. The Scudetto holders have kept their ground like the fortress it was last season, picking up wins against the likes of Napoli and Roma. Something has got to give, someone will suffer their first blemish. Also, Juventus have now gone 49 games unbeaten, dating back to May 2011. A win or draw would extend that streak to the half century mark, something that Inter will be trying desperately to avoid.

As for the match-up itself, it’s an intriguing one in terms of the potential starting XI’s. Juventus have a full squad available to them, meaning Kwadwo Asamoah, Stephan Lichtsteiner, and Giorgio Chiellini will slot back into the usual 3-5-2 system. Claudio Marchisio and Arturo Vidal also return to the midfield after getting a rest. Sebastian Giovinco and Mirko Vucinic should be the main partnership up front again, but there are rumblings in the major Italian newspapers that Fabio Quagliarella could be given yet another start, but factoring in that he played midweek, it’s unlikely. Antonio Conte will want his most in-sync players, who are Vucinic and Giovinco at this point in time. Can they show up when it matters most? For Juventus fans, they better because the strikeforce hasn’t been contributing to a lot of the goal scoring this season. It’s mainly come from midfield, so hopefully the striking duo can bag a couple

haba, no one watched the match This thread is similar to s typical serie A stadium on a matchday-very poor attendance. That league is really going down.
Anyway, weldone inter.