Inter Milan vs. Roma: Projected Lineups, Matchday Predictions and More

It's been a rough start to the season for Inter Milan and AS Roma. 

Even with a glut of new additions to the lineup making their Serie A debuts, a number of defensive blunders led to Luis Enrique's Roma suffering a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Cagliari, their first loss to the Sardinians on home ground in 27 years.

The Nerazzurri didn't fare much better, losing their Serie A opener at Palermo 4-3 despite a great performance from newcomer Diego Forlan, who scored Inter's last goal of the match in injury time, and losing in their opening Champions League opener against Trabzonspor.

This Saturday, both sides new acquisitions will have a chance to shake off last week's setbacks and make some improvements at San Siro.  

Projected Lineup: Inter Milan

One thing Inter Milan does have going for them is a nice balance of experienced and familiar faces, as well as recently-acquired talent with the potential to inject life into the club.

Although these players, old and new, have yet to show cohesion on the pitch, having leaders like Zanetti and Dejan Stanković alongside the newcomers will help make that fluency happen.  

With the three-man defense falling short, and most of Milan's injuries to reliable defenders, Gasperini may take to another popular option for him, the 4-3-1-2 formation.

This would see Zanetti at full back to reinforce the defense with experience, and a reliable Wesley Sneijder in as the trequartista. His passing game is still one of the best in Europe and, even without crack striker Samuel Eto'o, an already-promising Forlán and Diego Milito will complement each other well on the offensive, and hopefully make up for lost time.

Projected Starting XI (4-3-1-2): Julio César; Maicon, Jonathan, Ranocchia, Zanetti; Cambiasso, Stanković, Álvarez; Sneijder; Milito, Forlán. 

Projected Lineup: A.S. Roma

Many of Roma's starters have only just seen their Serie A debuts, with the likes of Stekelenburg, Heinze, José Angel, Miralem Pjanić and Bojan Krkić still needing to find their footing after a rocky opener against Cagliari.

The only one we still haven't seen on the pitch is the promising new attacker, 19-year-old River Plate transfer Erik Lamela, who is out with an ankle injury. With the injury losses mostly to the midfield, Roma may go 4-3-3 to break up the midfield congestion from the last match, and play to their strengths on either end.    

A striking combination of Osvaldo and Bojan Krkić may be effective, with the Argentine striker bringing power, the 21-year-old bringing Barcelona's passing game and an ability to play wide, with veteran attacker and captain Francesco Totti as playmaker. 

Projected Starting XI (4-3-3): Stekelenburg; José Angel, Cassetti, Heinze, Rosi; Perrotta, De Rossi, Pjanić; Totti, Osvaldo, Bojan Krkić.

Matchday Considerations and Injury Reports

Inter Milan:

+ Four Men on the End: With the three-man no longer an effective option for the Nerazzurri, expect a four-man defense to start becoming the norm.

Expect Andrea Ranocchia, a versatile, speedy presence on the pitch, to become an impact defender alongside veterans like Zanetti and Stanković. Recent signing Yuto Nagatomo will bring some serious depth to the defense as a full-back.    

+ Forlanward: Although questions were raised about Inter Milan's strikers performing with the loss of Samuel Eto'o, doubts were met with one word: Diego.

The Uruguayan, despite hitting a rough patch at his old club, still had one of the best scoring records in La Liga, and has already shown his strengths in Serie A with a cracking debut performance. Expect more great things as the Nerazzurri offense begins to gel more. 

+ New Kids In Town, Part I: After a disappointing debut for Mauro Zárate, the new winger was replaced with Wesley Sneijder in the playmaking role. Expect that pattern to continue tomorrow night, with Sneijder as playmaker and Milito and Forlán as the strikeforce.   

AS Roma:

+ New Kids In Town, Part II: The Romulan Wolves made a lot of great acquisitions during the summer transfer window, and we saw a few flashes of potential against Cagliari. But stupid mistakes led to the Giallorossi's downfall. Developing a cohesive game, particularly in passing and goal setups, will be the key to Roma's success later on.  

+ Don't Pjanić: New signing Miralem Pjanić is one to watch: a technically-gifted attacker and key clutch player while at Lyon, the Bosnia and Herzegovina international has been compared to the likes of Zinedine Zidane. In time, he may be a heir-apparent to Francesco Totti for the playmaker role.    

Injuries / Absences

Inter Milan: Thiago Motta (hamstring), Emiliano Viviano, Ivan Cordoba, Cristian Chivu (ankle) 

AS Roma: Lamela (ankle), Cicinho, David Pizarro, Juan