What will Inter Milan's starting line-up be against Porto?
Inter Milan boast home advantage in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League round of 16 tie, with Porto the visitors. The 'Nerazzurri' have lost just one of their last 13 fixtures in all competitions and are unlikely to spring many surprises with their starting line-up against the Portuguese giants.
Manager Simone Inzaghi heavily favours a 3-5-2 formation and surely won't alter that for a game of such magnitude. However, the Inter boss has plenty of personnel options to choose from in multiple positions. Although goalkeeper Samir Handanovic made his return to action at the weekend following injury, current first-choice stopper Andre Onana should return to the starting line-up for this one.
Earlier in the month Inter defeated bitter rivals AC Milan 1-0 in Serie A with Inzaghi fielding a back three of Milan Skriniar, Francesco Acerbi and Alessandro Bastoni. In a fixture of similar importance here, the same defensive trio are likely to be favoured, although Dutch international Stefan de Vrij represents an alternate option.
At wing-back, Inzaghi must choose between Matteo Darmian and Denzel Dumfries on the right-hand side, whilst Federico Dimarco and Robin Gosens battle for a place on the left-hand side. In midfield, although Henrikh Mkhitaryan scored against Udinese at the weekend, the Armenian may well drop out of the starting XI to be replaced by Hakan Çalhanoglu. Both Nicolo Barella and Marcelo Brozovic are important players for Inter and should be afforded key roles from the start in central midfield as the hosts look to dictate the tempo of this match.
Whilst forward Romelu Lukaku started and scored vs Udinese last time out, strike-partner Lautaro Martinez was afforded a rest with Edin Dzeko given a starting birth. However, Lautaro came off the bench to find the net and should line up next to Lukaku for this crucial encounter. Fellow forward Joaquin Correa, is absent through injury.
PREDICTED XI (3-5-2): Onana; Skriniar, Acerbi, Bastoni; Darmian, Barella, Brozovic, Hakan Çalhanoglu, Dimarco; Martinez, Lukaku
UNAVAILABLE: Correa (Injured)
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