Serie A champions Inter Milan host Genoa in their season opener on Saturday looking to start life under new manager Simeone Inzaghi with three points.
Bookmaker William Hill offers various enhanced odds for the contest such as Edin Dzeko to score first at 5.00.
※ Current Odds Date & Time: August 20th, 7:00 A.M. (EST)
Inzaghi replaced Antonio Conte as manager after the former Chelsea and Juventus boss walked out following disagreements with Inter’s board.
The Nerazzurri ended an 11-year title drought in the spring, but the club has cut costs due to a poor financial state and it’s left Inzaghi in a tough spot to try and replicate last season’s success.
Romelu Lukaku had two wonderful campaigns in Italy, but he’s now back at Chelsea and Inter also cashed in on wing-back Achraf Hakimi who joined PSG. Overall, Inter sold off players for nearly 200 million euros while spending only 31 million on new signings.
The club will hope that Dzeko picks up where Lukaku left off in terms of goal-scoring and that Hakan Calhanoglu maintains his high standards following his move from city rivals AC Milan.
The Turkish international notched 32 goals and 48 assists in 172 outings for Milan and he’s been among the Serie A best set-up men in two consecutive seasons. With Christian Eriksen unlikely to ever play again in Italy due to the country’s strict regulations regarding footballers with heart conditions, Inter badly needed to add a creative force to the team and Calhanoglu looks like a very good fit.
Calhanoglu and the rest of the Inter new boys start off their life at the club in what looks like the perfect matchup for the team. Inter have recorded six straight wins against Genoa and they haven’t even conceded a single goal during the run.
Genoa have flirted with relegation multiple times over the last few seasons, but they had a decent campaign in 2020-21 with an 11th-place finish. The team overcame a horrific start that saw them win just once in the first 13 rounds of action.
Manager Davide Ballardini has been sacked a whopping three times by the club, but they keep bringing him back and he seems to know all the right buttons to push to keep the team out of trouble.
With Rolando Maran in charge, Genoa conceded two goals per game last season, but Ballardini completely turned things around defensively and a compact and disciplined effort is certainly required again on Saturday at San Siro.
