Inter Milan vs Urawa Reds Prediction: Chivu to claim first win as Nerazzurri boss

Inter Milan failed to get the Cristian Chivu era underway with a win on Wednesday, drawing 1-1 with Monterrey in their 2025 Fifa Club World Cup opener. Up next for the Nerazzurri is a match on Saturday (20:00 BST, DAZN) against the Urawa Red Diamonds, who lost 3-1 to River Plate in the first round of fixtures.

Below are my Inter Milan vs Urawa Reds predictions, supported by all the latest team news and match odds, ahead of this Group E game at Lumen Field in Seattle, Washington.

Team News

Yann Bisseck, Hakan Calhanoglu (both thigh), Denzel Dumfries, Davide Frattesi (both muscle) and Piotr Zielinski (calf) all missed Inter's opening game against Monterrey and remain doubtful for the weekend.

Marcus Thuram had been struggling with a hip flexor issue, but the French forward was thrown on in the 58th minute at the Rose Bowl. Should he prove his fitness, he could replace Sebastiano Esposito up top and partner skipper Lautaro Martinez, who scored the Nerazzurri's only goal of the game against the Mexicans.

Football Odds

Petar Sucic and Luiz Henrique both made their Inter debuts off the bench on Wednesday, with more substitute minutes expected here.

Federico Dimarco and Nicola Zalewski will be pushing for starts after making cameos in Pasadena.

Meanwhile, Martinez, Nicolo Barella and Kristjan Asllani are walking a disciplinary tightrope after receiving yellows against Monterrey.

Urawa saw two of their players, Samuel Gustafson and Ryoma Watanabe, booked in Tuesday's loss to River Plate, and both must be careful against Inter to avoid another caution, which would bring with it a one-game ban.

Thiago Santana looks like the most obvious addition to Maciej Skorza's starting XI on Saturday, after making his third consecutive appearance off the bench against River Plate, following his recent return from injury.

Takahiro Sekine, Takuya Ogiwara, Taishi Matsumoto and Genki Haraguchi are also pushing for starts after earning minutes in midweek.

Inter Milan vs Urawa Reds Odds

Unsurprisingly, this year's losing Uefa Champions League finalists, Inter, are big favourites to win this game. Chivu's side are 1/3, implying a 75% probability of success, while Urawa are 17/2, or a 10.5% chance, to get off the mark with all three points in Seattle.

The draw is priced at 9/2, both teams to score at 10/11, and over 2.5 total goals at 8/13.

Martinez (21/20) and Thuram (5/4) head the anytime goalscorer market, with Thiago Santana (16/5) first up for the Japanese club.

To Win to Nil - Inter Milan @ 6/5

Inter have endured a tough time of it over the last month, experiencing final-day failure in Serie A, suffering the heaviest-ever defeat in a Champions League final, and losing their head coach, Simone Inzaghi, to Al Hilal.

Former player Chivu, who helped save Parma from relegation, was subsequently appointed as Inzaghi's successor, but the Romanian was unable to inspire his side to victory in his first game in charge.

In fact, his players had to come from a goal down to take a point after Sergio Ramos put Monterrey in the lead after 25 minutes.

Chivu may find some comfort from the fact that the strike came from a corner, and on Saturday, Inter will face a side that won only one corner in their opening game.

Today's Football Fixtures

Urawa were well beaten by River Plate in Seattle, conceding in the 12th minute and going two goals down by the 48th. They pulled one back 10 minutes later, but that was only from the penalty spot after a silly pull of the shirt by Marcos Acuna. The Argentine side, though, restored their two-goal parity in the 73rd minute and held on to that 3-1 scoreline for the rest of the proceedings.

The Reds only managed nine shots in total, and it's difficult to see them recording any more than that against Inter, who will be looking to keep a first clean sheet under former defender Chivu.

I'm not seeing too much creativity in the Reds' ranks, so I think the Italians can win this game without conceding.

Player to Have 1 or More Shots on Target - Federico Dimarco (INT) @ 5/6

Dimarco was only a 68th-minute substitute against Monterrey, but given the short turnaround in fixtures, he could start ahead of Carlos Augusto as Inter's left wing-back on Saturday.

Should that be the case, just under EVS for the 27-year-old to register at least one shot on target, suddenly becomes very attractive.

In the 2024/25 Serie A season, Dimarco averaged 0.9 shots on target per 90 minutes, taking 22 across his 33 appearances (29 starts), including three in his final five competition outings.

River Plate found joy down Urawa's right-hand side on Tuesday, with their left-winger Facundo Colidio opening the scoring and collecting the 'Superior Player of the Match' award. Left-back Acuna also helped himself to a couple of assists, too.

Dimarco will be hoping to cause Hirokazu Ishihara & Co. more problems down that side, and given his accuracy when provided a shooting opportunity, I fancy the Italy international to at least test Shusaku Nishikawa in the Reds' goal.

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