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Will Inter Milan book their place in the last 16 of the Champions League on Tuesday night? They are aiming to sneak in front of Tottenham, in a similar way to their Champions League qualification. Back in May, the hosts jumped into the top four of Serie A in the last 45 minutes of the season. Now they come into the final game aiming to turn the tables late on, after they slipped out of second with a loss at Spurs last time out. Can they claim a win over Dutch champions PSV and boost their hopes of making the next round?
Inter fans will have a nervy eye on the clash in Barcelona, as Tottenham head to face the Catalans. The Italian side need to better whatever result Spurs get, with a surprise win for the Premier League side putting them through. It was all in Inter’s hands until last time out, when they went down 1-0 at Wembley. Now they are left waiting on Barca getting a result to do them a favour, and give them a chance to make it through. Given how the Catalans are playing, we already think Tottenham have a mountain to climb.
Dutch champions PSV have struggled in this group so far, and they have a point to their name after five matches. They are in the background in a week which will decide Inter’s fate in Europe. The visitors have been dominant domestically, with 14 wins from 15 in the Eredivisie. However, that great record has only put them two points clear of Ajax, in an incredibly tough title race back in the Netherlands. As they approach their final two league games of 2018, this European trip looks like a bit of a distraction for the visitors.
Inter have to pick up from some poor form in this game, after a really tough run of games. They’ve got one win in six, following visits to Barcelona, Atalanta, Tottenham, Roma and Juventus. They’ll be delighted to be back in Milan after that run, and they will be backed up by a run of six wins in seven at their own ground. There’s little doubt that they’ll get the points, as they’ve been made heavy favourites. That piles the pressure on Tottenham, and makes this more of a free hit for PSV.
The whole group has really been a free hit for the visitors, given the difficult nature of their matches. Despite that, they’ve been causing problems going forward. The visitors lost 2-1 at home to Barca last time out, while they scored three times over the course of two meetings with Spurs. The Dutch outfit scored in the reverse meeting between these two, and we see them scoring here. Inter have no clean sheets in their last 10 Champions League games, so we’re going with Inter and o2.5 here.
Inter Milan go into this game knowing even a win might not take them into the last sixteen of the Champions League. Inter will be hoping of course that Tottenham do what most teams in the Champions League do and fail to win in Barcelona. Inter are unbeaten in their last seven home games and their last three in the Champions League.
PSV have only one point in this group and are already doomed to finish bottom. Both of their away games have been lost and they were defeated 2-1 by Inter in the reverse fixture.
Inter can be backed to get the home win here.