The derby della Madonina is just around the corner, but Inter cannot yet fully focus on the clash with city rivals AC Milan in the championship. Although the Nerazzurri’s priority is to qualify for next season’s Champions League, coach Simone Inzaghi has no intention of letting go of the Coppa Italia trophy he won last May with a victory over Juventus at the Olimpico.As part of the quarter-finals of the Italian Cup, the firing squad from Bergamo will arrive at Giuseppe Meazza. Atalanta, along with Napoli, play the best football in Italy in the new year. They are unbeaten in 2023, winning four of six games in all competitions during January and scoring at least two goals in each of them. In total, in the mentioned period, they found their rivals’ back of the net 22 times! So, on average, the ‘Goddess’ scored more than three and a half goals in matches in the last month. No one at the Boot has come close to them when it comes to efficiency in the previous four weeks.Inter, too, can brag with good results in January. They opened the month with a victory over Napoli, demolished Milan in the Super Cup, but struggled quite a bit against smaller teams. They managed to beat Cremonese and Verona by a minimal margin, Parma in the last round of the Cup only after extra time, Monza even took a point from them, while Empoli recently took all three from Giuseppe Meazza.Inter Milan wamepoteza mechi 1 tu kwenye mechi 9 za mwisho wamecheza kwenye mashindano yote. Atalanta nao mwaka huu hawajaonja kichapo. Nani atapiga hatua?Kuwa mshindi!Vheza sasa 👉 https://t.co/cSETlUeSuJ#CopaItalia pic.twitter.com/qFeFoqTSpn— Mozzart Bet Kenya (@mozzartbetkenya) January 31, 2023 Milan Skriniar was not on the field in both of the aforementioned slip-ups, and as the Slovak is working on a transfer to PSG, it is very likely that he will not be in the team against La Dea either. Without him, the Nerazzurri defense is not the same, so perhaps the conditions have been created for Atalanta to end Inter’s dominance in head-to-head matches and beat them after eight matches.The team coached by Simone Inzaghi has already won one trophy this season. In Saudi Arabia, they managed to defeat city rival Milan and dominate the Super Cup final. Now in the Nerazzurri camp, they are eager for another success, because the vision of winning the Scudetto is starting to fade, not only for Inter. In Serie A, the black-and-blues of Milan do not give up the role of the main antagonist of Napoli, but despite quality performances, they are 13 points behind the Partenopei.Only three African players have reached double figures for goals in the opening 19 games played by their teams in a #SerieA💎 season:13 | Victor Osimhen (@victorosimhen9) 2022/2312 | Samuel Eto’o (@SamuelEtoo) 2010/1111 | Ademola Lookman (@Alookman_) 2022/23 pic.twitter.com/5m2ODn7KwP— Lega Serie A (@SerieA_EN) January 23, 2023 The clash against Atalanta will be a very tough test for Inzaghi’s men.”It wasn’t as easy a game with Cremonese as it seems. But I liked the reaction of my team when we were losing. The key is to never give up. That’s the only way we can overcome the obstacles. Atalanta will be a very unpleasant opponent and we have to pay special attention to their counters,” Inzaghi said.So far the Nerazzurri have been relatively successful, especially with Atalanta, they have a good record recently. Especially at home, where Atalanta last took three points in 2014. And, the current form of the Bergamo squad poses a great danger for Inter.Possible starting XI for #InterAtalanta pic.twitter.com/7xNxRywwCo— ENJOY INTER (@EnjoyInter) January 31, 2023 On the other hand, experienced coach Gianpiero Gasperini can afford the luxury of leaving Duvan Zapata or Luis Muriel on the bench. The main star is Ademola Lookman – the Nigerian striker found the ideal environment to grow at Atalanta and his move to Bergamo proved to be a great one. He has already scored 14 goals in 20 matches played, and a total of seven in the past four matches in all competitions.Gasperini can count on almost the entire team, he only lacks the defenders Palomino and Zapacosta. Inter are still without midfielder Brozović.COPPA ITALIAQuarter-finalsTuesday23:00: (2.25) Inter (3.45) Atalanta (3.15)Wednesday20:00: (2.15) Fiorentina (3.25) Torino (3.60)23:00: (1.42) Roma (4.50) Cremonese (8.00)Thursday23:00: (2.15) Juventus (3.35) Lazio (3.50)***odds are subject to change***
