Serie A: Inter face a tough fixture away to Atalanta as AC Milan look to keep up with the leaders

(Football news) Inter Milan after winning the supercoppa will be high on confidence as they take on Atalanta. The teams will contest a Lombardy derby as Inter revival continues apace, as coach Simone Inzaghi claimed his first trophy for the club since taking over from title-winning predecessor Antonio Conte in the summer with Supercoppa success on Wednesday. They have gone unbeaten in 12 consecutive top-flight games, after a 2-1 victory over Lazio last week which helped them stay a point clear of title challengers AC Milan at the top of the table. They will also be seeking to score in a 40th straight Serie A match as this would be just the third time any team have done so in the competition's history. The Nerazzurri are one of only two teams to have scored in each of their league games across the top five European leagues this term, along with Bayern Munich. They are averaging over 2.5 goals per game as they have scored 51 goals this season itself..

For Atalanta fifth-placed Juve are just three points behind them heading into the weekend's action, so the pressure to perform remains intense, even after winning their last league match 6-2 away to Udinese, Atalanta need to produce a similar performance to not only stay 4th but also maintain pressure on Napoli in third place For Inter most of their players are fit and firing as Atalanta will be without Robin Gosens and star striker Duvan Zapata as Marco Sportiello, Davide Zappacosta and Roberto Piccoli are considered doubtful.

AC Milan take on Spezia as they look to take advantage of Inter facing a tough match against Atalanta. AC Milan have started 2022 in very good fashion winning all their matches possible, with wins against Roma and Venezia followed up by a cup win over Genoa after extra-time. AC Milan are currently a point behind Inter with an extra match played but have a chance to leapfrog them as their next two fixtures after Spezia, are against Juventus (January 23) and Inter (February 6). The main concern for the Rossenari are only Florenzi, Kalulu, Gabbia, Theo Hernandez and the returning Calabria fit in defence, then just Bakayoko and Krunic available for the midfield against Spezia because Tonali is suspended. Kjaer and Tomori are injured, Romagnoli has Covid-19 but Ballo-Toure, Kessie and Bennacer are at the African Cup of Nations and will miss these 3 crucial matches.

Juventus take on Udinese as they look to finally go into the Champions League places. Allegri’s men will look to put aside their Supercoppa disappointment and get back to winning ways as last week’s victory in the league leaves the Bianconeri placed fifth in the Serie A standings as they are now just three behind Atalanta, who still have a game in hand. Majority of their victories have come on the road, as Juve rank only ninth in the league in terms of home form at the Allianz Stadium. The only positive that Allegri can conjure from this week is that most of his squad players are fit and ready to start this crucial encounter.

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