Cristian Chivu believes Inter can "dream freely" ahead of their clash with Torino, with the Nerazzurri well on track to secure their 21st Serie A title. 

Even after Napoli's 4-0 win over Cremonese on Friday, Inter still hold a commanding nine-point lead at the summit, but their potential title celebrations have been delayed by at least a week by that result. 

Inter are given a 99.9% chance of lifting the Scudetto at the end of the season by the Opta supercomputer.

Indeed, they are enjoying a strong run of form, having not lost any of their last five Serie A matches (W2 D3), since a 1-0 defeat to AC Milan at the start of March. 

Chivu's side also battled hard to come back from 2-0 down against Como in the semi-finals of the Coppa Italia to secure a 3-2 win and book a meeting with Lazio in the final, keeping their hopes of a domestic double well and truly alive. 

"We're relaxed and know the hard work we've already done, as well as the fact that we still need points to finish the job," Chivu said. "We're getting closer to what is both one of our objectives and a dream. 

"I talk about the entire campaign, because even going into the break for international duty, we still had a big advantage at the top.  

"We had some results that were below expectations at that time, yet were six 6-7 points clear. 

"We did well to get the results against Roma and Como, albeit aware of the difficulties, and now are in a position that allows us to dream freely." 

The Inter boss was quick to point out that his side's league success is not only down to their recent run of form, but also their consistency across the entire campaign. 

"Everyone talks about what happened lately, but the last four matches are not everything. There is an entire season to evaluate.  

"I would talk about a side that scores 78 goals, always tried to put in good performances, and has become more effective."

Torino, meanwhile, are 13th in Serie A with little to play for following a goalless draw with Cremonese in their last outing.  

Roberto D'Aversa's side are unbeaten in their last three matches (W2 D1) and could record four consecutive positive results for the first time since a run of six between October and November 2025. 

PLAYERS TO WATCH 

Torino – Giovanni Simeone 

Giovanni Simeone has nine goals in Serie A this season and could reach double figures for the first time since 2021-22 (17 with Hellas Verona).  

The Argentine forward has scored in each of his last three home appearances in the top-flight, netting exactly three goals – as many as he had in his previous 33 home games in the competition. 

Inter – Marcus Thuram 

Torino are the side against whom Marcus Thuram has scored the most Serie A goals, with six in four appearances, including his only career hat-trick in the five big European leagues (on 5 October 2024 at San Siro).  

This season, the Frenchman already boasts 11 goals and has become only the third foreign Inter player to have scored 10 or more goals in each of his first three seasons with the club in the competition, after Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Stefano Nyers (the latter, in each of his first five). 

MATCH PREDICTION – INTER WIN 

Inter's record against Torino is positive as they have recorded the most matches without defeat against Torino in Serie A (127 out of 163 total encounters, with a record of W77 D50 L36). A win would also see them equal Juventus' record of 78 wins against Torino. 

Chivu's side have won each of their last three Serie A away games against Torino with an aggregate score of 6-0.  

They could record more consecutive wins at the Granata's home ground with an accompanying clean sheet for the first time since the period between September 1994 and February 2003 – a run of five on that occasion. 

Inter have also won 12 of their 16 away games in Serie A this season (2025-26). Only three times in their history have they ended a top-flight campaign with more away victories: 15 in 2023-24 and 2006-07, and 13 in 2019-20. 

Torino, though, are faring better since D'Aversa's arrival. 

Under his management, Torino have won all three of their home Serie A matches and have not achieved a better run in a single league season since a five-game streak between December 2018 and March 2019 under Walter Mazzarri (including a 1-0 win against Inter).  

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY 

Torino – 16% 

Draw – 20.8% 

Inter – 63.2%