How could Juventus line up against Inter with no Thuram available

Luciano Spalletti is expected to reshuffle his tactics ahead of the Derby d’Italia against Inter on Saturday afternoon as Juventus will have to do without key midfielder Khephren Thuram against the Nerazzurri. Here’s who could replace the Frenchman in San Siro. 

Juventus released their squad list for the derby against Inter on Saturday morning, confirming that Thuram as well as Dusan Vlahovic and Arkadiusz Milik are unavailable to play. 

Thuram has featured in 23 of Juventus’s 24 league matches so far this season, has started in 20 of them and has provided one goal and two assists from those Serie A outings. That goal came in the reverse fixture against Inter at the Allianz Stadium during the first half of the season. 

Who could start for Juventus against Inter in the absence of Thuram?

With no Thuram available on Saturday evening, it is expected that Spalletti will slightly reshuffle his tactics. 

Spalletti originally deployed a 3-4-2-1 shape during his first weeks in charge of the Bianconeri, before switching to a 4-2-3-1. He reverted to the 3-4-2-1 shape for the 2-2 draw against Lazio last time out, but is likely to swap back to a four-man defence against Inter. 

According to reports from some outlets on Saturday afternoon, Spalletti is likely to deploy a midfield trio of Manuel Locatelli, Weston McKennie and Fabio Miretti. That would see Francisco Conceicao, Kenan Yildiz and Jonathan David as the starting attackers. 

Other outlets, however, suggest that Spalletti could stick with a back three, and that Teun Koopmeiners could be brought in to partner Locatelli in the midfield of a 3-4-2-1. Lloyd Kelly would come back into the team on the left side of the back three if this were to be the case.