Tudor reaffirms belief Juventus can fight for Scudetto ahead of Inter test

Igor Tudor reaffirmed his belief that Juventus can challenge for the Serie A title, but said their Scudetto hopes will be put to the test by Inter this weekend. 

Juventus welcome Cristian Chivu's side to Allianz Stadium on Saturday, hoping to maintain their perfect start to the season after winning both of their opening league fixtures. 

Tudor was announced as Thiago Motta's successor in March, becoming the first foreign manager to be appointed by the Serie A giants since Didier Deschamps in 2006-07.

The 47-year-old guided Juventus to a top-four finish in 2024-25 and a spot in the Champions League, and now he is eyeing a shot at the Scudetto in his first full season in charge.

Juventus have not won the Serie A title since 2019-20 under Maurizio Sarri, with their highest finish in the division since being third, which they managed in 2023-24. 

The Bianconeri are handed a 13.1% chance of lifting their 37th Serie A title according to the Opta supercomputer, behind Inter (25.6%), Napoli (21.2%) and Roma (17.3%). 

"Obviously, this team can fight to win the Scudetto," Tudor told DAZN Italia at his pre-match press conference.

"At the start of the season, in a couple of meetings, I talked about the possibility of winning the league and our objectives, but then I closed the door and won't talk about it again.

"I only talk about concrete things; you have to achieve results, not talk about them."

Inter and Chivu, meanwhile, will be looking for a response after falling to a shock 2-1 defeat to Udinese before the international break. 

The Nerazzurri have taken three points from their two games, suffering their earliest defeat in a Serie A season since 2018-19, when they lost to Sassuolo on the opening day. 

Inter and Juventus will face each other in the first three matchdays of Serie A for the third time in their history, though Chivu was not putting too much pressure on his players. 

Chivu has already faced Tudor, beating his Juventus team 1-0 with Parma, though the Inter boss suggested that their latest meeting will be a completely different proposition. 

"Tudor has done a great job at Juventus. They have an identity and had a good transfer window. They have recovered Bremer in defence. He gives them a lot," Chivu said.

"We can't compare that match from four months ago. It's another team. Both Inter and Juventus are different. We have high expectations, but we shouldn't have extra pressure.

"We need mental clarity. I rely on the pride of my champions and my players. Pride is worth more than all the tactics.

"It's only the third round. We shouldn't overburden it too much. Everyone knows what the Derby d'Italia represents. We need to have the right energy to read the match."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Juventus – Dusan Vlahovic

After scoring in Serbia's 1-0 win over Latvia in a World Cup qualifier over the international break, Vlahovic will be looking to continue his fine start to the Serie A campaign here. 

Having scored against Parma and Genoa, he could find the back of the net in each of his first three matchdays of a Serie A season for the first time in his professional career. 

Indeed, Vlahovic has netted twice in his last three league matches against Inter, after having scored just once in the previous seven, and he will be keen to make his mark again.

Inter – Marcus Thuram

Despite not getting on the scoresheet against Udinese, Thuram has begun the season in style, with both his league goals coming in Inter's opening-day rout against Torino. 

Last time out, the Frenchman posted team-high totals for completed dribbles (four) and aerial duels (eight), while only Federico Dimarco (four) created more chances in the clash with Udinese than Thuram (two, level with Ange-Yoan Bonny and Henrikh Mkhitaryan).

MATCH PREDICTION: DRAW

The Opta supercomputer's prediction of a stalemate is backed up by the recent meetings between the two sides, with three of the last four matches between Juventus and Inter in the first half of a season ending in a draw (one win for the Bianconeri). 

Inter have also only won one of their last six Serie A matches against Juventus (D2 L3). Overall, this weekend's hosts have defeated the Nerazzurri the most times in the competition (88), and you would expect that to improve given their impressive home form against them. 

Indeed, Juventus have not lost in 11 of their last 12 home Serie A games against Inter (W8 D3), with the Nerazzurri's only win at the Allianz Stadium in this period coming in April 2022, a 1-0 win thanks to Hakan Calhanoglu's penalty. 

The two teams had opposing results last time out. After their respective victories over Parma and Genoa, Juventus could keep a clean sheet in their first three Serie A games in two consecutive seasons for the first time in their history.

Inter, meanwhile, could lose two matches in the first three games of the season in Serie A for the first time since 2011-12 after losing to Udinese before the international break. 

And Lautaro Martinez will be hoping to have his say for Inter. However, the Argentine has scored only two goals in 14 league games against Juventus. Only against Genoa (571) has he recorded a worse ratio between minutes played and goals (518) among opponents he has faced more than twice in Serie A.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Juventus – 34.7%

Draw – 29.8%

Inter – 35.5%