The big-ticket fixture on Wednesday night has Spanish giants Barcelona pitted against a rejuvenated Inter side.
These two teams last faced each other in the Champions League semi-finals in 2010 when the Italian side emerged victorious and went on to claim the title. On Wednesday, they will be fighting for the top spot of the group.
Both teams are on six points after overcoming Tottenham and PSV Eindhoven. The Italian side are on an incredible seven-game winning run in all competitions which also includes a closely fought Milan derby. On the other hand, the Catalans were subject to contrasting fortunes in the league. After a poor run of form, Barcelona outclassed Sevilla on Saturday to climb to the top the table
In Mauro Icardi and Luis Suarez, we have a battle between two extremely high-profile strikers. The winner can potentially decide the outcome of the game. We build-up to the big game with a comparison.
Mauro Icardi against a fragile Barcelona backline
Mauro Icardi.
This straightforward battle sees an in-form Icardi take on a vulnerable Barcelona defence. Barcelona haven’t kept a clean sheet since their 4-0 thrashing of PSV in the Champions League over a month ago.
Ter-Stegen has saved 24 shots this season with an aggregate xGA (Expected goals against) of 3.23 while his opposite number Handanovic has saved the same number of shots but with an xGA of 2.24. This massive difference further supports the fact that Barcelona have been conceding too many goal-scoring opportunities and are heavily reliant on Ter-Stegen’s heroics to save the day.
Icardi enters this game after scoring a last-minute winner in a derby. The striker has scored four goals in seven games in the Serie A and has two assists to his name. While this statistic does not sound particularly appealing, the fact that he managed to score more than his xG (Expected goals) of 3.12 shows that the Argentine can latch on to half-chances.
The 25-year-old scored a goal in both his European outings this season which included a sensational long-range effort against Spurs.
It’s highly likely that an Argentine can decide the outcome of the match despite Messi missing the clash due to his injury as Icardi takes on a shaky Barcelona defence.
Luis Suarez seeks salvation
Luis Suarez
Suarez has been a shadow of his former self since the beginning of this season. The forward has found the net four times in the league like his Argentine counterpart at the other end. However, this statistic hides an important argument that the Uruguayan would prefer to be hidden.
The 31-year-old has a massive xG of 7.17 in the Spanish league this season. Suarez has clearly been at the end of more clear-cut opportunities than Icardi has but has scored the same number of goals. Mathematically put, the Uruguayan should have scored twice as much as his Inter counterpart, given the quality of his chances.
The Uruguayan shoots more often than Icardi and has been inefficient in front of goal. From about 3.88 shots per 90 minutes, he has just 0.48 goals every game. This does not compare well with the Argentine who has taken 2.9 shots every 90 minutes to reach his figures of 0.63 goals every 90 minutes.
However, Suarez does contribute to build-up play and creates a lot of goalscoring chances. The forward has added elements to his game that is not recorded by statistics. He had a key role in each of Messi’s goals against Spurs without touching the ball. The Uruguayan remains a more complete player.
With Messi out, Suarez will go into the game without his major source of goalscoring opportunities. However, his partnership with Coutinho can cause all sorts of trouble to the Inter defence headed by Stephan De Vrij.
There isn’t much time left until we have a winner in the battle of the strikers, a battle between two of Europe’s finest.
