Football

Club World Cup: River Plate vs. Inter Milan – Preview, lineups, our tips

8 months ago - Sportingbase

Inter Milan and River Plate meet at the top of Group E in their last matchday, and while the game shapes as two Club World Cup heavyweights meeting at last, injuries and suspensions may rob us of an all-time contest.

Here’s the Sporting Base’s guide and insights for this all-important Group E match-up.

How to watch

When: Thursday, 11am (AEST)
Where: Lumen Field, Seattle
Watch Every Game Free On DAZN By Clicking Here

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Expected lineups

Inter Milan (3-5-2): Sommer, Darmian, Acerbi, Bastoni, Dumfries, Barella, Mkhitaryan, Çalhanoğlu, Dimarco, Esposito, Martínez
River Plate (4-3-3): Armani, Montiel, Martínez-Quarta, Díaz, Acuña, Kranevitter, Aliendro, Fernández, Mastantuono, Meza, Colidio

Inter Milan vs. River Plate prediction

On paper this should be a very entertaining clash, but there’s one big thing that’s going to take the wind right out of the competitive sails: River Plate is going to be cobbling together an engine room with Kevin Castaño, Enzo Pérez and Giulano Galoppo, all of whom are clear midfield starters in Marcelo Gallardo’s best XI, all suspended.

On the other side, Inter has a flood of stars coming back into the fold with Hakan Çalhanoğlu, Davide Frattesi, and Denzel Dumfries all available for the crunch-time Group F clash. Çalhanoğlu and Dumfries should slot straight back in.

So too veteran playmaker Henrikh Mkhitaryan, who could play his first 2025 Club World Cup game.

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With River Plate short on troops, Gallardo may — read: should — turn to a grittier game plan. All the Argentines have to do is take a 1–0 victory to go through as table-toppers (assuming Mexico’s Monterrey deal with the Urawa Red Diamonds in the other game). Expect plenty of cards as River Plate tries to bash their way into the Round of 16.

Only, this Sporting Base writer thinks Inter will be ready for that plan and can match the smash-and-grab playstyle and then some with the stronger squad at Cristian Chivu’s disposal. It’ll be cagey, but Italy’s 2025 runners-up will go through.