Crowned 'Winter Champions' at the weekend, Inter Milan will seek to extend their scintillating form on Wednesday evening when they host mid-table Torino at San Siro.
Serie A's Scudetto holders will not want the year to end, given a streak of six league wins on the spin, and they start as strong favourites despite their visitors' recently improved fortunes.
Match preview
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Following a draw in the Derby della Madonnina in early November, every league game since has ended with maximum points for Inter, who have won their last five without even conceding.
A cumulative tally of 16-0 accurately reflects the Nerazzurri's domestic dominance over recent weeks, in a spectacular period when they have gone from seven points short of the summit to four points clear of the chasing pack.
Although they have been aided by the faltering form of chief rivals Napoli and Milan, there has been a familiar sense of momentum building around Simone Inzaghi's squad - the bulk of whom secured the club's first title for a decade last spring.
Their most recent conquest was the division's bottom side Salernitana, who put up little resistance in a 5-0 drubbing last Friday. After Ivan Perisic opened the scoring in the 11th minute, four more names were added to the scoresheet as Inter became the first team to have netted more than 100 Serie A goals in a calendar year since Milan in 1950.
Furthermore, they have now scored more than 47 times in the first half of a top-flight season for the first time since that very same year.
Records aplenty have been threatened or tumbled under both Inzaghi and his predecessor Antonio Conte, and ahead of their final San Siro outing before the mid-season break, the Nerazzurri have already won 18 home league games in 2021 - just shy of the all-time Serie A record.
Having been awarded the unofficial title of Campioni d'Inverno (Winter Champions) with a game to spare, Inter can now turn their attention to turning over opponents whom they have beaten in each of their last four league meetings, while scoring at least twice per game.
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Following a run of just one victory from their previous five games, Torino returned to winning ways on Sunday in a close-fought encounter with mid-table rivals Verona.
Head coach Ivan Juric led the Granata to the three points against his former side, as Tommaso Pobega scored soon after the visitors' Giangiacomo Magnani was sent off for a desperate last-man challenge on Antonio Sanabria - a decision remarkably only reached following the intervention of the VAR.
That success against the Scaligieri brought Il Toro their second successive league win after previously beating Bologna 2-1, and moves them into the top half of the table - a stark contrast to last season's troubles.
Six points from six may have softened the blow from last Thursday's Coppa Italia exit to Sampdoria, but Juric will still be concerned about his team's lack of progress outside of Turin, ahead of perhaps their most testing road trip of the season.
With only one victory in eight attempts away from home - added to their recent cup defeat at Marassi - Torino are certainly long-shot outsiders to end a streak of failing to win their last match of the past four calendar years when they take to the field in Milan.
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Team News
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Though Inter have Joaquin Correa and sidelined again through injury, they have few other fitness concerns this week. However, midfield mainstay Nicolo Barella must serve a suspension for accumulated bookings, allowing either Roberto Gagliardini or Arturo Vidal to step in to the side.
The champions this week bade farewell to another member of the team that lifted the title in May, as Christian Eriksen terminated his contract with the club by mutual consent due to league rules preventing his return while fitted with a defibrillator device.
Despite the quick turnaround between games, Hakan Calhanoglu and Lautaro Martinez will continue to demonstrate their creative talents on Wednesday, with the former being involved in 10 goals (both scoring and assisting five times) during the past month. The latter was rested against Salernitana, with Alexis Sanchez featuring instead, but the Argentina striker should now start.
Meanwhile, Dennis Praet, Simone Verdi and star striker Andrea Belotti are out of action for Torino, and the Granata's inspirational captain is not due to return until the end of January.
Antonio Sanabria therefore continues to start up front for the visitors, despite failing to score in each of his last 14 away matches in Serie A, and Josip Brekalo is in line to replace Praet.
Ivan Juric may also be poised to make some unenforced changes to his starting XI, which generally lines up in a 3-4-2-1 formation, including Ola Aina coming in for Mergim Vojvoda at wing-back.
Inter Milan possible starting lineup:
Handanovic; Skriniar, De Vrij, Bastoni; Dumfries, Gagliardini, Brozovic, Calhanoglu, Perisic; Martinez, Dzeko
Torino possible starting lineup:
Milinkovic; Djidji, Bremer, Rodriguez; Singo, Lukic, Pobega, Aina; Brekalo, Pjaca; Sanabria
We say: Inter Milan 2-0 Torino
As Torino boast one of the best defensive records in the division - a remarkable turnaround under Juric, given the club's previous rearguard woes - Inter's task in finishing off their special year with a win may not be straightforward.
Unbeaten in their last 10 league fixtures ahead of the game - recording eight wins in the process - the hosts have enough momentum on their side to break through any Granata resistance, as their raiding wide men assert dominance over those of the visitors.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Inter Milan win with a probability of 78.07%. A draw had a probability of 14.1% and a win for Torino had a probability of 7.8%.
The most likely scoreline for a Inter Milan win was 2-0 with a probability of 12.33%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 3-0 (10.73%) and 1-0 (9.44%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (6.69%), while for a Torino win it was 0-1 (2.56%). The actual scoreline of 1-0 was predicted with a 9.4% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole and our data analysis both correctly predicted that Inter Milan would win this match.
