Inter Milan: Navigating the Roadmap to the Top of Serie A | OneFootball

Inter went into the 2025/26 season desperate to regain the Serie A title after being pipped to the prize by Napoli last season.

Online bookmakers made them one of the favourites to win the Scudetto this term, and plenty of punters were willing to back them to achieve the feat.

However, as bettors who have undertaken a sports betting education will know, football has a nasty habit of being a difficult sport to predict.

Inter were the poster boys for this during the early part of the campaign, losing two of their first three league games under new manager Cristian Chivu.

However, the Romanian has steadied the ship since then by guiding Inter to three consecutive league victories. They are now fourth in the standings, three points off top spot.

Their most recent outing produced an impressive 4-1 victory over Cremonese at the San Siro, which briefly moved them joint-top of the Serie A table.

Napoli, Roma and Milan subsequently jumped ahead of Inter, but Chivu undoubtedly has the team moving in the right direction after a sticky start.

Intriguingly, the next two fixtures will be hugely informative. Inter are scheduled to visit Roma on October 18 before heading to Napoli seven days later.

If Inter pick up six points from those two matches, they could quite feasibly top the Serie A standings before the end of the month.

While Chivu is unlikely to be too concerned about the table at this stage of the season, he will be keen for his tactical evolution to keep delivering positive results.

Inter were often guilty of overplaying under former manager Simone Inzaghi, but Chivu’s direct style of play has made things much simpler for the players.

The set-up in midfield has been a major talking point during the early part of the campaign, with pundits debating whether Nicolò Barella should start ahead of Hakan Calhanoglu.

Barella staked his claim for a permanent starting role last weekend by setting up Ange-Yoan Bonny for the opening goal against Cremonese.

Although the 28-year-old is not as technically gifted as Calhanoglu, his speed of thought and willingness to distribute the ball quickly make him ideally suited to Chivu’s system.

Chivu has quickly established an element of unpredictability at Inter, with the players no longer guaranteed to be regular starters in his set-up.

Unlike Inzaghi, who often revealed his team the day before a game, Chivu generally keeps his cards close to his chest until a few hours before kick-off.

His focus on competition has not only generated renewed vigour in the squad but could be a crucial factor as the Serie A title race progresses.

While it is too early to judge whether Chivu’s methods will deliver the desired results, the change in approach looks positive after the way the squad stagnated under Inzaghi.

The upcoming games against Roma and Napoli will not necessarily define the title race but should paint a useful picture about the progress Inter have made.

Roma have looked efficient during the early part of the campaign, conceding just twice in six league outings. Inter will need to take their chances to emerge victorious.

The game against Napoli could be a more expansive affair, with both teams packed with attackers who can cause defenders problems.

Napoli’s recent 2-1 defeat at Milan demonstrated that they are not unbeatable and Inter can draw inspiration from that result.