Inter Milan vs Napoli Prediction - Will Walter Mazzarri Be Able To Defeat His Former Team?

Next Saturday, a refurbished Inter Milan will measure forces against Napoli at San Siro for round 35 of Serie A on a match that will be of major importance for the Nerazzurri's aspirations of granting a place at the UEFA Europa League next season.

After last Saturday’s win during the always complicated trip to Ennio Tardini, Inter Milan managed to cement their position at the sixth place of table and to keep their closest opponents, Parma and AC Milan, at bay.

During a great portion of the match, Walter Mazzarri’s side experienced several difficulties against an organized Parma that could have opened the score, which would probably have changed the course of the match, if it wasn’t for the penalty Cassano missed in the dying moments of the first-half.

Inter’s next match against Napoli will certainly be special for their manager - Walter Mazzarri - who commanded the Naples team for four years (before changing to Inter) and put them back on the path towards success. Napoli are comfortably sitting at the third place of the table and will approach next match without any chance or hope of reaching Roma, currently at the second place.

For next Saturday’s match, Walter Mazzarri will probably still not be able to count on the Brazilian defenders Jonathan and Juan Jesus, since both of them are currently sidelined due to injury.

As for Napoli, next Saturday’s match will only be important to grant the third place of Serie A, since it is too late for them to aim for a higher place at the table now. With ten points more than Fiorentina, Napoli only need another victory to definitely conquer the third place of the table; nevertheless, their next clash at San Siro might not be the easiest one to achieve that goal.

Napoli are not enjoying the best of moments at Serie A, with just two wins over the last four matches. Last weekend, the Gli Azzurri failed once again to defeat Udinese at Stadio Friuli, thus continuing with their poor record.

For San Siro’s clash, Rafa Benítez is not yet certain if he will be able to count on the versatile Argentinean forward Gonzalo Higuain, who missed the team’s last match at Udine due to injury, while the Uruguayan defender Miguel Britos and the versatile Italian player Christian Maggio will also likely miss the match, since they are still recovering from their respective injuries.

When both sides met at Stadio San Paolo back in December, the home side hammered Inter 4-2 with goals from Mertens, Dzemaili, Callejon, and Higuain. On next Saturday’s match, Inter Milan will do everything within their reach to avoid suffering that kind of humiliation again, as they cannot allow any setbacks if they want to keep their closest rivals at bay.

Inter Milan

Stats: W-14 L-6 D-14

Recent Form - DDDWW

Napoli

Stats: W-20 L-6 D-8

Recent Form - WWLWD

Possible Line-ups

Inter Milan (5-3-2) - Handanovic - Nagatomo - Samuel - Campagnaro - D’Ambrosio - Rolando - Kovacic - Cambiasso - Hernanes - Palacio - Icardi

Napoli (4-2-3-1) - Reina - Reveillere - Albiol - Henrique - Fernández - Behrami - Inler - Hamsik - Insigne - Callejón - Zapata

Prediction: Inter Milan 2 Napoli 1