Following their derby defeat in the Supercoppa Italiana, reigning Serie A champions Inter Milan will aim to get straight back on track when they visit Venezia on Sunday.

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For the second time this season, Inter succumbed to defeat against AC Milan, as they lost 3-2 in Monday's Supercoppa decider despite leading until the 80th minute.

Four days after beating Scudetto rivals Atalanta BC in the semis, clinical finishes by front pair Lautaro Martinez and Mehdi Taremi put the Nerazzurri on course for a fourth straight supercup triumph, but they failed to last the pace and had to watch their old foes lift the trophy instead.

Tammy Abraham's late winner in Saudi Arabia consigned Inter to just a second domestic defeat of the season, so they will return to league action intent on extending an unbeaten streak of 12 Serie A matches.

After conquering Cagliari in their final fixture of 2024, Simone Inzaghi's side are one of only two teams - along with Juventus - yet to lose an away game in Italy's top flight this term; indeed, they have won all of their last five without conceding.

Therefore, Inter could now post six straight away wins while keeping a clean sheet for the very first time in Serie A, and precedent seems to suggest they can do so.

For the past five seasons, the Nerazzurri have won their first league match of the calendar year, and they are favourites to set a new club best by making it six on the spin this weekend.

After Inter came out on top in November's reverse fixture, with Martinez scoring the only goal at San Siro, Venezia have lost all of the clubs' last three meetings.

Few would expect a side struggling in the bottom three to trouble Italy's champions, but the Lagunari will welcome their second-city counterparts to Stadio Pier Luigi Penzo amid their most productive spell of the season.

Top scorer Joel Pohjanpalo netted the early opener against Empoli last time out, but they ultimately had to settle for a 1-1 draw after Inter loanee Sebastiano Esposito struck back to equalise.

Nonetheless, Venezia have now lost just one of their last five games by tightening up in defence; keeping them within touching distance of 17th spot and their goal of top-tier survival.

Occupying 19th place after 19 games - marking the season's halfway stage - Eusebio Di Francesco's men have collected 11 of their 14 points on home turf, so they may hold out hope of producing a big shock on Sunday.

Venezia possible starting lineup:

Stankovic; Idzes, Sverko, Altare; Zampano, Busio, Nicolussi Caviglia, Ellertsson, Carboni; Yeboah, Pohjanpalo

Inter Milan possible starting lineup:

Sommer; Pavard, De Vrij, Bastoni; Dumfries, Barella, Asllani, Mkhitaryan, Dimarco; Martinez, Thuram