Soccer-Inter's Inzaghi talks up Juve's title hopes ahead of Derby d'Italia
MILAN, Oct 26 (Reuters) -Inter Milan strolled to their Serie A title win last season but their manager anticipates a much tighter Scudetto battle this time, with Sunday's opponents Juventus among the hardest opponents, Simone Inzaghi said on Saturday.
Inzaghi's side had a winning margin of 19 points over city rivals AC Milan last season but, as they prepare to host Juventus in the Derby d'Italia, Inter are two points behind leaders Napoli, and just one ahead of Juve.
"I don't like to talk much about favourites and things like that," Inzaghi told reporters.
"This year it will be a more balanced championship than usual; many teams have spent a lot to close the gap that had been created.
"Juventus are the best team in Europe in terms of goals conceded, they have an excellent coach who I really like and they have invested a lot. They will remain protagonists throughout the year."
While Juve coach Thiago Motta, along with Napoli's Antonio Conte, continue to play down their own chances of winning the title, Inzaghi's success does not allow him that luxury.
"I don't know if it's a strategy or something else, I can only speak for myself," Inzaghi said.
"We know that we start from the beginning of the season with clear goals, to play as many games as possible to ensure that we get as far as possible in the cups and try to be competitive in the league."
Inter come into the clash with injury concerns. Defender Francesco Acerbi is still out with a thigh injury sustained in the last league game, a 1-0 win at AS Roma, and midfielder Hakan Calhanoglu also went off injured that day.
Kristjan Asllani could be in line to replace Calhanoglu, if he can recover from his own injury which has kept him out of Inter's last two games.
"We know what Calhanoglu represents for us, he is a world-class player. His natural replacement is Asllani, if he gives me the right guarantees he will play," Inzaghi said.
"He is a player who has improved a lot over the years, his misfortune is having Hakan ahead of him. Unfortunately he had a problem before Roma. Yesterday he had his first training session which didn't go badly and we will need to evaluate.
"In the same role we also have (Nicolo) Barella and (Piotr) Zielinski; I will carry this doubt until tomorrow evening."
Reporting by Trevor Stynes; editing by Clare Fallon
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