Inter Milan vs Slavia Prague Prediction: Back big home win and a spot kick at San Siro

Inter Milan’s return to form will be put to the test on matchday two of the Uefa Champions League on Tuesday at San Siro (21:00 local, 20:00 BST, live on TNT Sports 8) when they host a Slavia Prague side still smarting from losing a two-goal lead in the opening league-phase fixture.

Slavia drew 2-2 with Bodo/Glimt having been in full control, while Inter were 2-0 winners at Ajax. My Inter Milan vs Slavia Prague predictions are below, complete with full team news and Betfred’s latest match odds.

Team News

Inter will rotate heavily from the team which beat Cagliari 2-0 on Saturday to make up ground on beaten Serie A leaders Napoli.

Josep Martinez will be replaced in goal by Yann Sommer, while Stefan de Vrij makes way for Francesco Acerbi.

Out wide, both starting wing-backs against Cagliari get the night off. Denzel Dumries and Federico Dimarco come in for Luis Henrique and Carlos Augusto.

There should be a familiar look about their attack and central midfield positions, with Marcus Thuram and Nicolo Barella among those to keep their places.

Lautaro Martinez starts as ever following his goal in Sardinia, while Pio Esposito will again be among the substitutes after coming off the bench to net the clincher.

Football Odds

Slavia boss Jindrich Trpisovsky could make a few alterations from the XI which beat Dukla Prague on Friday, with goalkeeper Jindrich Stanek potentially returning in the place of Jakub Markovic.

Youssoupha Mbodji could step up at left-back, with Ondrej Zmrzly set to miss out, while club captain Jan Boril might well find his way into the starting line-up having been among the substitutes on Friday following a four-week absence.

Today's Football Fixtures

Inter Milan vs Slavia Prague Odds

The Nerazzurri are massive favourites to win, with Slavia’s poor European record helping to underline just how much of a gap there ought to be between these two sides.

Inter are 1/3 for the three points, with Slavia out at 17/2. It’s 9/2 for the draw, while Betfred have a number of tasty-looking Price Boosts on offer.

It’s 9/1 for both teams to score while also recording four or more corners and chalking up 20 or more booking points each. That’s out from 8/1.

Martinez to net at least twice is now 9/2 from 7/2, while a third Price Boost sees Hakan Calhanoglu priced at 15/2 (was 13/2) to score the first goal.

Handicap: Inter -2 @ 11/5

Twice in the last three seasons, Inter have been Champions League finalists. And in both of those emotional campaigns, they recorded emphatic 4-0 victories over relative minnows.

Viktoria Plzen were put to the sword at San Siro back in 2022/23, while last season they saw off Red Star Belgrade with plenty to spare.

This result shouldn’t look too different, with Inter having found some form following that dramatic 4-3 loss to Juventus earlier on in the month.

Slavia will come with an emphasis on endeavour, but we saw a fortnight ago against Bodo/Glimt that they can quickly crack under sustained pressure.

So I’m all behind Inter coming through this one with ease, and don’t be surprised to find both Martinez and Thuram on the scoresheet on the way.

A penalty to be scored @ 23/10

While I’m not a big fan of bringing referees into the big picture of a football match, it’s worth a look at Chris Kavanagh’s record as he gets set to take charge of his second Uefa Champions League contest.

His rates for fouls, fouls per tackles, penalties and yellow cards per game are all currently higher in European club games than in English domestic fixtures.

The 40-year-old has awarded an average of 27.89 fouls at a rate of 0.73 fouls per tackle, 0.33 penalties and 6.44 yellows in his nine games in Europe.

Those stats fall to 21.06 fouls at 0.62 per tackle, 0.27 spot-kicks and 3.51 bookings in his Premier League career.

So a still-emerging referee at Champions League level might be more likely to enforce the rules more rigidly, and in a game in which Slavia are likely to be under a lot of pressure that could well end up in key decisions going Inter’s way.

Given that Inter ought to be dominant, there’s plenty of hope in this 23/10 shot coming through. It’s a 30.3% implied probability, and there are a number of factors above which could well play in the punter’s favour here.

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