INTER MILAN

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"Udinese and Inter have started 2005 in contrasting ways. Udinese suddenly lost the flair and good luck that accompanied them in their terrific start to the season, with a series of defeats that allowed Inter to crawl up the standings and claim third place from them.

While losing away to Juve and Milan is understandable, it was not expected that they wouldn’t claim any points against the likes of Parma, Reggina and Sampdoria. After going through that bad patch, they recently returned to winning ways with two straight wins, but then confirmed their vulnerability against “big” teams when losing at Juventus last week.

Inter, meanwhile, have done well to beat most of their closest rivals fighting for a Champions League place (Sampdoria, Palermo, and Roma were all beaten in the last month and a half), but have struggled hugely against smaller sides, earning only disappointing draws with Chievo and Parma, and beating Atalanta only 1-0 at home.

But overall Inter are a side in good form, as Mancini has finally found a more or less stable formation that, unlike before, can defend a result, and looks like it can score at any minute. In fact, no one else has earned more points than them since the start of the year in Serie A. This has meant Mancini’s side have gained some ground on Juve and Milan, but they are still a daunting 11 points behind the black-and-white league leaders

Just like Inter, Udinese are also playing some good football but their failure to beat the top teams has left them out of the running for the title race.

Having lost against AC Milan earlier in the year before going down to a 2-1 defeat against Juve last weekend, Luciano Spalletti's men know what they are up against when they face the best attack in the Italian top flight.

``In order to win we will have to play an almost perfect game,'' admitted striker Antonio Di Natale.

The good news for the hosts is that striker Dino Fava has recovered from a slight knee injury but suspended midfielder Sulley Muntari will be unavailable for the encounter.

Inter travel to the Friuli stadium with all of their star players available, including Adriano, who will play alongside Christian Vieri in attack.

Very difficult to predict to say the least, but don’t be too surprised to see Inter walk away with another morale-boosting win against a team with a similar league position. Udinese aren’t exactly flying recently, while Inter have usually done well against teams who want to play football like the Bianconeri, not just defend (see also Palermo and Roma).

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