ITALIAN SERIE A BETTING PICK - INTER MILAN V FIORENTINA

Italian Serie A

2008-04-13 - Inter Milan vs Fiorentina

A Sports Betting Pick by Cruiser

Analysis:

Inter Milan managed to end their three game winless run when they beat Atalanta 2-0 in their last match and will aim to restore their four point lead over second place A.S Roma when they welcome the visit of Fiorentina who are in fourth spot and keen to overtake Juventus in third spot as they are just two points behind the Old Lady of Turin.

Inter Milan cannot afford to drop points here as A.S Roma could catch them being just four points behind. Inter Milan needs to win here as they have not performed recently winning just two out of their last nine Serie A games. The visitors Fiorentina also are battling to keep their fourth spot as the likes of Milan, Sampdoria and Udinese are eager to take over the fourth spot which comes along with a Champions League spot.

Fiorentina could also be distracted by the fact that they have a trip to play against PSV Eindhoven for the UEFA Cup quarter-final to come as well. But if we look towards Inter Milan’s progress since they were eliminated from the Champions League they have continued to struggle suffering their first defeat at Napoli and losing to Juventus on home soil. They have yet to win at the San Siro since their last win over Palermo which was on the 8th of March to be exact. A win here would definitely boost their title winning chances.

Mancini was quick to point that their poor form has to do with the injuries to his midfielders which was why that the return of Esteban Cambiasso saw the team beat Atalanta in Bergamo last weekend.The good news for Mancini is that Dejan Stankovic and Patrick Vieira are close to full fitness while Zlatan Ibrahimovic, David Suazo and Cristian Chivu struggle are still some way to getting back to full fitness. But the likes of Ivan Cordoba, Walter Samuel and Olivier Dacourt are out for the rest of the season with long term injuries. That means for this match Mancini is likely to stick with the 4-5-1 system that worked so well against Atalanta once again for this match.

Fiorentina have not been playing well as they should with their performance similar to a yo-yo as they would win one match and then lose in the next. They are coming fresh from a 2-0 win against Reggina but their away form is suspect as they have lost their last three games away from home to the likes of Siena, Napoli and Udinese. In those three defeats they were hit by six goals and only managed to score only once.

Inter Milan will be glad to know that history is on their side when they have met here in the last five times as they won the last five meetings in a row. Even though the visitors managed to score first last season through Luca Toni who have since moved to Bayern Munich, but then they were hit by goals from Stankovic, Adriano and Ibrahimovic from the Inter Side. Interestingly these sides have not drawn when they faced at San Siro since it finished 2-2 in November 1996.

Fiorentina will miss the services of Franco Semioli who remains injured while Marco Donadel has to serve his suspension for this match. That means that Zdravko Kuzmanovic will start in midfield and Mario Alberto Santana will be the obvious choice to start in attack together with Pazzini and Adrian Mutu. Christian Vieri will be on the bench and considering he is a former Inter player will get a hot reception should he come onto the field.

Take Inter Milan to win here and give the 3/4 ball away here.

Cheers and good luck,
Cruiser

The Statistics :

The Pick :

BEST BETTING TIP :

Take Inter Milan to win this match.