INTER MILAN vs REGGINA (20 Dec 2007)

Kickoff : 3.45am

League : COPA Italia

Preview from info obtain from AB forum:

A very good game in prospective here. Two sides with very different objectives here. Reggina is fighting to not be in the bottom of the table in Serie A, and Inter is clearly the better side in Italian soccer, without loses this year and very results, such as 1-4 against Roma away. For this match Inter will make some changes, as usual in this competitions, so we could count with this squad: Orlandoni, Rivas, Materazzi, Samuel and Fatic in defence; Solari, Pele, Burdisso and Cesar in midfield; Crespo and Balotelli in attacking. I think this is a very good team. Strong defence and very good midfield. The attack with Crespo is win for sure! The Inter coach, Roberto Mancini, told on press conference that is team will enter on the field to win this match and added that Italian Cup is one of the objectives to this year. Reggina by is turn, will also make changes. It will revise Francesco Cozza, while Vigiani, Barreto, Modesto, Aronica, Valdez, Amoruso and Lanzaro will not play more then 45 minutes. This Reggina is clearly fighting for championship stay, no for Italian Cup. I expect a very pressure Inter on the first minutes. A good possibility to win again and remain unbeaten this year.

_____________________________

FREAKTIPS PREVIEW

Inter is on a three prong assault this season(Coppa, League and CPL) and rotation is necessary for their squad. Yet Inter has a large squad and should have no troubles against Reggina tonite. Even without Viera and Zlatan, Inter has able players on the bench to replace them. I doubt Inter would like to drag this game to a 2nd leg at home due to their tight schedule. I expect Inter to qualify to the quarters tonite.

On the contrary, Inter's upcoming match for this weekend is against AC Milan at home. A vital match for Inter as they face AC in the Milan derby. Pride and bragging rights are at stake here as Inter is out to prove that they are the best team in Italy if they can take 3 points from AC Milan. This single factor itself would swerve my decision tonite on taking Inter tonite. In fact Reggina +1 looks extreamly tempting now. I doubt Inter would go all out tonite and their main players should be rested for this weekend's derby. Strong possibility of a low scoring game tonite.

My odds calculation favors Inter tonite and, I tend to favor on my odds calculation alot. Stuck between both reasoning, I shall go for a small stakes on this match. Inter is too strong even with their backup players featuring tonite. I doubt Inter would want to play the return leg as that would disrupt their packed schedule. On the other hand, Reggina's last 2 games against Inter have ended 0-1 and 0-0 scoreline. Small stakes tonite then on Inter -0.75 FT and TG Under 2.25 FT.

Verdict : Inter -0.75 FT (1 STAR BET) and Tg Under 2.25 FT (1 STAR BET)