Inter preview with Serie A expert James Horncastle

The Champions League is back and we’ve turned to Italian football expert James Horncastle for our 'Preview from the Press Box' ahead of our Group B opener against Inter at the San Siro.

James Horncastle

James is a highly-respected writer and broadcaster who has lived in Rome and specialises in Serie A for ESPN and BBC Sport. He also follows all the major leagues from Spain and Germany to England and France and is part of BT Sport’s Champions League Goals Show.

Inter’s form so far...

James: "Inter’s start has been below expectations because they did a lot of business in the summer, upgraded the team a lot and the newspapers in Italy were talking about them as being the challengers to Juventus this season. The defeat against Sassuolu on the opening weekend was a big reality check. It’s still early days though and the sense is that there is still enough talent this squad for them to come good."

This game

James: "In some respects, Inter are similar to Spurs in that they are a flexible team that alternate between playing 4-2-3-1 and 3-4-2-1 and you can see them interchange between and back four and a back three. They have some of the same strengths as Spurs as they are a hard, physical team that play at a high intensity.

"My worry for Inter is that I think Spurs are better in those two areas and Spurs could blunt Inter’s main strengths. What is really interesting about this match up is that you have two fantastic strikers in Harry Kane, who we’ve seen on the European stage for few years now and Mauro Icardi, Inter’s number nine. This will be Icardi’s first game in the Champions League and it’s long overdue."

Key player...

James: "Mauro Icardi is a classic penalty box striker. It’s incredible that this will be his first game in the Champions League and he’s deserved to be on this stage for a while now. I don’t think people outside Italy really appreciate how good a striker he is and the reasons for that are because Inter haven’t been in the Champions League for the last six years and because he hasn’t featured much for the Argentine national team.

"He’s been top scorer in Italy twice in his career and was the youngest winner of the Capocannoniere since Paolo Rossi (1978). He’s already into Inter’s top 10 goalscorers of all-time (107 goals), and that’s quite some company he’s keeping. He’s like a shark, all he needs is one drop of blood and he’ll find it. He also shows up on the big occasions - he almost always scores against Juventus and scored a hat-trick in the Milan derby last season."

Key area

James: "I’ll say the wide areas, that’s where Inter’s principle threat comes from. They made the most crosses in Serie A last season. They are a team with Ivan Perisic, Antonio Candreva and also this season, Keita Baldé Diao and Matteo Politano, two very good players when it comes to beating defenders in one-v-one situations and taking men on. Spurs’ wing-backs will have to be on their toes. Midfield will be key as well. Inter’s biggest signing in the summer was Radja Nainggolan and he had his best-ever season under Inter’s current manager Luciano Spalletti at Roma. He wins the ball high up the pitch, close to goal and will often score, so that's something else Spurs will have to look out for."

Prediction

James: "I think Spurs will win. If you look at their progress in the Champions League, I don’t think they will be fazed by not only Inter, but also the other teams in the group (Barcelona, PSV), not least as they topped the so-called 'group of death' (up against Real Madrid, Borussia Dortmund) last time around. I’ll say a Spurs win."