Inter Milan vs Empoli

The unbeaten Inter Milan return home as they host the struggling Empoli at the Giuseppe Meazza with an excellent chance of maintaining their impressive record. Empoli are just a few points ahead of last place Cagliari and could be facing their toughest test of the season this week.

The neroazzurri are coming off of a hard, well earned point a week ago in their week 20 contest against Udinese at the Stadio Friuli. With the point Inter Milan remain top of the table in Serie A with 50 points on the present campaign. Those 50 points are good enough for a 5 point lead over the impressive Roma. Now they are back home at the San Siro where they have put up very strong numbers having won 9 of 10 matches with 1 draw. One of the factors that makes Roberto Mancini’s squad so tough to beat is their overall depth which has allowed them to play long stretches of the season without players of the caliber of David Suazo, Walter Samuel, Dacourt and Christian Chivu. Morale is also quite high this week after Inter Milan were able to knock off their hated rivals of Juventus in the Coppa Italia. The combination of Julio Cruz of Argentina, and Zlatan Ibrahimovic of Sweden in attack has put up 23 goals for Inter so far.

Empoli are just trying to survive in Serie A these days. Nothing has come easy for them this season and they currently sit 19^th out of 20 clubs in the league table with 16 points on the campaign. They are 1 point behind 18^th place Siena, 2 points back of Reggina and just 3 ahead of last place Cagliari who suddenly are hot on their tail after big win last week. The side managed by Malesani were defeated at home at the Stadio Carlo Castellani in their week 20 match to Fiorentina by a score of 0-2. As if that were not bad enough they now hit the road where they have won just 1 match all season long to take on the undefeated Inter Milan. The lone bright spot is that Empoli have reported just 2 injury concerns at this time and they are Marchisio and Pratali. Everyone else should be available.

There does not seem to be much hope for Empoli in this match. The numbers are clear, Inter are unbeaten with 9 wins and 1 draw at home while Empoli have won just 1 away with 7 losses and 2 draws. It would take a super human effort for Empoli just to hold out for a point.

Prediction: Inter Milan (2-0)