Inter vs Liverpool has the most upset potential of any other RO16 tie this season
By Jim James
Inter Milan vs Liverpool. Mo Salah and Sadio Mane, fresh from AFCON play an Inter Milan team engrossed deep into a Serie A Title battle. The match with Liverpool is probably the least of their concerns, as their San Siro rivals AC Milan, and Napoli are nipping at their heels. This seems like an almost certain win for Liverpool. By February the Premier League title race will be pretty much over and they can talk about 7, baby. However, as likely as it is that the scouse side will progress to their 4th Champions League Quarter Final in 5 years, this matchup could very well see the Italian team go through. In this post I will explain.
First off, after a grueling AFCON tournament where they play games often and were used in a different tactical setup, Mo Salah and Sadio Mane, Liverpool’s two best attackers, might be a little rusty. Sure it may work against Crystal Palace, but Inter Milan is no Crystal Palace. This may also only apply for the first leg in February but that may well be enough.
Second, Liverpool will be underestimating their opponents going into the game. Liverpool have been known to think less of their opponents in the Champions League, a reason why they lost to Atlético Madrid in 2020. I believe that they will do this to Inter as well. Why not? Again, they’re too busy on Serie A to focus on the Liverpool tie (We’ll talk about this in a minute), they have an inexperienced team, and they don’t have the attacking firepower that Liverpool have. However, as we will talk about momentarily, there is no reason to underestimate this team.
Thirdly, in my opinion the notion that “A team is too focused on one competition to do well in this one” is complete film flam nonsense used by managers as a quick excuse if they’re team isn’t performing. It’s a nonsense cliche picked up by the wide media and fans as a scapegoat. While it’s true that a team may lose out on planning time for a game if they’re super prepared for another, the difference is miniscule.
Fourth, Inter’s team is absolutely amazing. Okay, not a top 10 or even top 15, but very good. A very much improved Edin Dzeko and Hakan Calhanoglu, Lautaro Martinez, Marcelo Brosovic, Stefan de Vrij, among others. They did sell Romelu Lukaku and Achraf Hakimi last summer, and that has made them be underrated out of their mind. Edin Dzeko could be the steal of the 2021 Summer, Hakan Calhanoglu was the best rival swap transfer, an underrated player, and this team could definitely get past Liverpool.
That is it. Thank you for reading, I bet this will be completely wrong and Liverpool will get the win, but I did say it had upset POTENTIAL, it wouldn’t be an upset. That said, I’m Jim James, and until next time.