Preview: Cremonese vs Inter Milan - prediction, team news, lineups

Aiming to stretch their lead at the top of Serie A, title favourites Inter Milan will visit free-falling Cremonese on Sunday evening.

With Inter playing two days ahead of their closest rivals - old foes AC Milan - they can go eight points clear with another win at Stadio Zini.

Match preview

Having lost the Scudetto to Napoli last season, Inter are now well set to reclaim it: following last week's 6-2 thrashing of Pisa, they lead city rivals Milan by five points - and Napoli by nine.

Unbeaten in 10 Serie A matches, with others slipping up on a regular basis, Cristian Chivu's men have gone through the gears in recent weeks, tightening their grip on first place.

Putting their supremacy into some context, Inter have won the joint-most games across Europe's top five leagues this term and they boast the third-best attack, with 50 goals scored so far.

However, they must take the long route if they are to reach a third Champions League final in four years, after narrowly missing out on a top-eight finish in this season's league phase.

The Nerazzurri had won their first four games, but after losing three on the spin, Wednesday's 2-0 away win over Borussia Dortmund was only enough for a high seeding in the knockout playoffs.

Despite Federico Dimarco extending his stellar form by scoring a tremendous free kick, which was followed by Andy Diouf's strike a few minutes later, Inter missed out on automatic entry to the last 16, so they will have to beat Bodo/Glimt in order to get there.

Four domestic fixtures lie ahead before they travel to Norway: Sunday's trip to Cremona, a Coppa Italia quarter-final against Torino, next week's visit to bogey team Sassuolo, and then the Derby d'Italia.

Holding Italy's best road record - eight wins and just nine goals conceded - Inter have won all six domestic away fixtures since losing to Napoli in October, while several other factors will weigh in their favour at Stadio Zini.

Chivu's side boast a perfect record against clubs currently inside the bottom half of Serie A - scoring 31 goals while conceding six - and they have won all but one of eight previous league visits to Cremonese.

In addition to seven straight defeats on home turf, Cremonese were beaten 4-1 at San Siro earlier this season, when Dimarco was also on target for Inter.

In the following months, a bright start to their latest Serie A comeback campaign has stalled, and Davide Nicola's side have nosedived into danger.

Over the last eight matchdays, Cremo have accrued the fewest points (three), scored the fewest goals (two) and failed to find the net on seven occasions.

One of several teams locked on 23 points, they remain clear of the drop zone for now, but renowned survival specialist Nicola is under pressure to turn things around.

A few days after drawing 0-0 with lowly Hellas Verona, the Grigiorossi lost 1-0 to Sassuolo last weekend, as forward pair Federico Bonazzoli and Jamie Vardy came up short once again.

Now seeking just a third home win of the season, they must try to topple regional rivals Inter, which represents a huge ask in the circumstances.

Cremonese Serie A form:

L L D L D L

Inter Milan Serie A form:

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Inter Milan form (all competitions):

D W W L W W

Team News

Inter are still missing regular starters Denzel Dumfries, Hakan Calhanoglu and Nicolo Barella, but Alessandro Bastoni and top scorer Lautaro Martinez should return to the lineup after both were benched in Dortmund.

In the absence of Calhanoglu and Barella, forgotten man Davide Frattesi could be handed a rare chance: his only Serie A start this term came in October's reverse fixture.

Unless rested, Dimarco can try to improve his new personal best for goal involvements in a single league campaign - an impressive tally of 12 (five goals, seven assists) from 20 appearances on Inter's left flank.

While Martinez took his tally up to 12 top-flight strikes last week, both Vardy and ex-Inter striker Bonazzoli have been stuck on five for some time.

Aiming to bolster his ailing attack, Nicola has acquired veteran frontman Milan Djuric, with the 35-year-old returning to one of his old clubs; midfielder Youssef Maleh is also on the verge of signing from Lecce.

However, the hosts will be without injured trio Michele Collocolo, Warren Bondo and Antonio Sanabria, while wing-back Tommaso Barbieri must serve a suspension.

Cremonese possible starting lineup:

Audero; Terracciano, Baschirotto, Bianchetti; Zerbin, Payero, Grassi, Vandeputte, Pezzella; Bonazzoli, Vardy

Inter Milan possible starting lineup:

Sommer; Bisseck, Akanji, Bastoni; Henrique, Frattesi, Zielinski, Sucic, Dimarco; Martinez, Esposito