Born in the south east of Ireland, Simon put his life-long love of football to good use when he started a successful independent blog in 2010. That opened up an alternative route to a career in journalism, and having had work published across a number of sites and publications, Simon joined the staff at Spotlight Sports Group in 2018.
The 2019/20 domestic Italian season resumes this week with a couple of fascinating looking Coppa Italia Semi Final second leg ties that have all the ingredients required for a couple of knockout football classics.
First up on Friday, two of Italy’s most successful clubs and long-standing traditional rivals, Juventus and AC Milan, will battle it out in Turin for a place in the tournament’s final, and with the scores locked at 1-1 from their first meeting, the outcome of the double header stands on a knife edge.
In the competition’s second Semi Final a day later, Napoli will be aiming to make the most of their 1-0 first leg advantage to see off Antonio Conte’s Internazionale outfit in Naples. The last time Inter visited the Stadio San Paolo in January, they toppled their hosts 3-1 in impressive style however – and a repeat performance on Saturday would see them overturn the first leg deficit with room to spare.
Read on to discover the latest team news for this week’s Coppa Italia Semi Finals, along with information about where you can watch the games on TV and via stream, as well as latest team news ahead of the action.
Coppa Italia Semi Finals on TV and live stream
BT Sport holds the broadcast rights for the Coppa Italia in the UK, and they plan to televise both games on Friday and Saturday respectively. Here’s where you can watch the crucial second leg fixtures on TV:
Juventus vs Milan (Friday 12th)
TV – 20:00 – BT Sport (TBC)
Live Stream – 20:00 – bet365
Read our expert’s Juventus vs AC Milan predictions for exclusive betting tips and their detailed match preview.
Napoli vs Inter (Saturday 13th)
TV – 20:00 – BT Sport (TBC)
Live Stream – 20:00 – bet365
Check out our match preview to read our analyst’s Napoli vs Inter predictions and betting tips.
How can I watch the Coppa Italia on bet365?
It’s quite simple really – all you need to do is sign up for a bet365 account (if you don’t already have one) and either have a funded account or to have placed a bet in the past 24 hours.
If you meet those criteria, you can live stream any of their scheduled events, including the Coppa Italia. You can find which events are available for streaming by going to the In-Play tab, navigating to Schedule and then keeping an eye out for the Live at bet365 tag.
Juventus team news and injuries
Promising Juventus defender Merih Demiral remains in the treatment room following his cruciate ligament rupture, while experienced striker and former Milan loanee Gonzalo Higuain is also unlikely to play a part on Friday.
Elsewhere, Maurizio Sarri’s squad looks in strong shape, with Matthijs de Ligt and former Milan defender Leonardo Bonucci expected to pair up at the heart of their backline, and Blaise Matuidi likely to be fielded in in the middle with Rodrigo Bentancur and Aaron Ramsey.
In the final third, the Old Lady are almost certain to deploy Douglas Costa, Cristiano Ronaldo and Paulo Dybala in a potentially devastating attacking trident.
Possible Juventus XI: Szczesny; Cuadrado, De Ligt, Bonucci, Sandro; Bentancur, Matuidi, Ramsey; Costa, Ronaldo, Dybala
AC Milan team news and injuries
Ex-Juventus star Zlatan Ibrahimovic is a big-name absentee for Milan this week. The Swede is suspended for the game, though an injury picked up in training may have kept him out regardless.
Theo Hernandez, who was sent off in the first leg, also misses out through suspension, and Davide Calabria will likely fill in for him at left-back.
Holding midfield duo Ismael Bennacer and Franck Kessié could have a heavy defensive workload to get through in Turin, while further up the pitch Milan look short on cutting edge, with seven-goal Ante Rebic their leading marksman.
Possible AC Milan XI: Donnarumma; Conti, Romagnoli, Kjaer, Calabria; Kessie, Bennacer; Paqueta, Bonaventura, Calhanoglu; Rebic
Napoli team news and injuries
With Kostas Manolas’s injury issues still not cleared up, Nikola Maksimovic should replace the Greek in defence for Napoli, with Lorenzo and Rui either side of that centre-back pairing.
In midfield, Allan, Fabian Ruiz, Diego Demme and Piotr Zielinski will fight it out for three central positions, while Matteo Politano is in line to start upfront against his former club.
Belgian hitman Dries Mertens and talismanic wide attacker Lorenzo Insigni should also be given starting berths by manager Gennaro Gattuso.
Possible Napoli XI: Ospina; Lorenzo, Maksimovic, Koulibaly, Rui; Ruiz, Allan, Zielinski; Politano, Mertens, Insigne
Inter team news and injuries
Antonio Conte has almost a full complement of personnel to choose from for Saturday’s fixture, with centre half Diego Godin and anchorman Matias Vecino his only injury concerns.
Milan Skriniar, Stefan de Vrij and the promising Alessandro Bastoni could line up in a back three for Inter with Antonio Candreva and the veteran Ashley Young as wing-backs.
Nicolo Barella and Marcelo Brozovic are likely to form a defensive minded double act behind a more advanced Christian Eriksen, while in-demand striker Lautaro Martinez should feature alongside Romelu Lukaku.
Possible Inter XI: Handanovic; Skriniar, de Vrij, Bastoni; Candreva, Young; Barella, Brozovic, Eriksen; Martinez, Lukaku
When is the Coppa Italia Final?
The 2020 Coppa Italia final is scheduled to take place on June 17 at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome. To reduce the risk of injury from the heavy fixture list, the final will go straight to penalties if teams cannot be separated at the end of 90 minutes.
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