Inter Milan vs Lecce Prediction: I Nerazzurri to return to normal at San Siro

Inter Milan began the defence of their Serie A crown with a 2-2 draw at Genoa last weekend, being denied all three points by a stoppage-time strike from former AC Milan forward Junior Messias. I Nerazzurri’s first home game of the new season takes place on Saturday (19:45) when they host Lecce at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, and Simone Inzaghi’s side will be targeting nothing less than a win against a side they did the double over in 2023/24.

Below you can find my Inter Milan vs Lecce prediction and all the latest team news ahead of this second-round fixture at San Siro.

Team News

Stefan de Vrij and Tajon Buchanan were sidelined for Saturday’s stalemate and are expected to miss out again for Inter this weekend, but summer signing Piotr Zielinski is in line to make his debut after a thigh injury kept him out of the season opener against Genoa.

Denzel Dumfries had a relatively short pre-season which probably explains his omission from the starting XI last Saturday; the 28-year-old Dutch international could come into the line-up against Lecce in place of Matteo Darmian, who he replaced midway through the second half last weekend.

Football Odds

After Monday’s 4-0 humbling at the hands of Atalanta, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Lecce head coach Luca Gotti make several changes to his starting XI at San Siro.

Lameck Banda and Lassana Coulibaly were both introduced at the start of the second half and are in contention to play from the off on Saturday, with Balthazar Pierret and Tete Morente at risk of losing their starting spots.

Mohamed Kaba remains a long-term injury absentee, however.

Inter Milan vs Lecce Odds

*Please click on the link above to be taken to the main Inter Milan vs Lecce page on betfred.com (or app) for all the live betting prices on this match.

Inter, unsurprisingly, dominate the head-to-head and have triumphed in the last four meetings dating back to August 2022, when Lecce returned to the top flight. Saturday’s hosts are 1/5 to record a fifth-straight success in this fixture, giving them an implied win probability of 83.3%, while Lecce are 14/1, or a 6.7% chance, to shock the reigning champions in their own backyard.

The draw can be backed at 11/2, both teams to score at 6/5, and over 3.5 total goals at 11/8.

Inter Milan to Win to Nil @ 4/5

Inter only conceded 22 times in Serie A last season but conceded nine per cent of that total in last weekend’s opening-round draw at Genoa. Inzaghi will be desperate to see his side return to the formidable outfit they were in 2023/24, and that means keeping a clean sheet at home against a team that finished 14th, just three points above the relegation zone.

I Nerazzurri kept 11 clean sheets at San Siro last term – conceding just 11 goals – with one of their shutouts coming in a 2-0 win against Saturday’s opponents last December. Inter also denied Lecce from scoring in a 4-0 victory at the Stadio Via del Mare in February as Inzaghi’s side did the double over I Giallorossi.

Lecce had plenty of shots in Monday’s Serie A opener with Atalanta but were easily beaten by La Dea, who also stopped the hosts from scoring. Saturday’s visitors have failed to fire against Inter for the last three games running now, and they are up against it to stop it becoming four this weekend.

Lautaro Martinez First Scorer @ 100/30

The 2023/24 Capocannoniere winner was denied from opening his account on the first weekend of the new season by Genoa, with strike partner Marcus Thuram taking the plaudits instead with a brace at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris.

Lautaro Martinez is by no means a selfish striker, but as last season’s top scorer and captain of Inter, the Argentine will be desperate to get off the mark as early as he can, which should see his motivation to score against Lecce sky-high on Saturday.

There’s not too much value in backing the 27-year-old to score anytime but at 100/30, I’m taking him on to find the net first against Lecce.

Martinez did exactly that the last time these two sides met in February, netting a 15th-minute opener to send Inter into a 1-0 lead at half-time. He has another goal to his name against this weekend’s opponents, in a 2-0 victory in March 2023 when he added to Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s opening strike.

Lecce were sliced apart four times by Atalanta on Monday and if they give such space to Martinez, the 2024 Copa America Golden Boot winner will make them pay.

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