Thuram brothers go head-to-head in Juventus-Inter and Vardy to make Cremonese debut

By Canadian Press on September 11, 2025.

ROME (AP) — The Thuram brothers meet when Juventus hosts Inter Milan on Saturday in Serie A.

The Derby d’Italia will also mark the debut of the refcam in the Italian league, with the match official wearing a small video camera to provide viewers at home with an on-field look.

Marcus Thuram, a forward at Inter, and younger brother Khephren, a midfielder at Juventus, already met twice last season. But this should mark the first time they start for the matchup between two of Italy’s biggest teams.

Their dad, Lilian Thuram, was a standout defender for Juventus and won the World Cup with France in 1998.

Juventus has won its opening two matches. Inter opened with a 5-0 rout of Torino then lost its home opener to Udinese 2-1.

Dusan Vlahovic has scored in both of Juventus’ matches despite speculation that he could have left the club during the transfer window. Vlahovic also scored in Serbia’s 1-0 win over Latvia last weekend — then was held scoreless in England’s 5-0 win over Serbia on Tuesday.

Key matchups

Former Leicester striker Jamie Vardy is set to debut for promoted Cremonese at Hellas Verona on Monday.

After winning the Serie B playoffs to return to the top flight after two years, Cremonese opened with two straight wins in Serie A. Cremonese stunned AC Milan at the San Siro and then produced a dramatic late win over Sassuolo.

Another game to watch is Milan’s game against Bologna, in which newly signed Milan midfielder Adrien Rabiot could face Jonathan Rowe, the England Under-21 winger who signed with Bologna. Rabiot and Rowe clashed in a locker room bust-up that forced them both out of Marseille last month.

Rabiot and Rowe will likely start on the bench.

Defending champion Napoli visits Fiorentina and in-form Italy striker Moise Kean on Saturday.

Players to watch

Luka Modric will play his first match as a 40-year-old in the Milan-Bologna game. The former Real Madrid midfielder celebrated his birthday on Tuesday, a day after playing 82 minutes and providing an assist in Croatia’s 4-0 win over Montenegro.

There are also a host of talented players who signed on deadline day and could make their debuts: Rasmus Hojlund at Napoli; Manuel Akanji at Inter; Lois Openda at Juventus; and Christopher Nkunku at Milan.

Out of action

Milan winger Rafael Leao remains out with a right calf injury that occurred during an Italian Cup match on Aug. 17.

Napoli center back Amir Rrahmani is out with a right thigh issue, joining Romelu Lukaku on the defending champion’s list of injured starters.

Off the field

UEFA was to decide on Thursday if a Serie A game between Milan and Como scheduled for February can be contested in Perth, Australia.

The match is scheduled for the weekend of Feb. 7-8. The San Siro will host the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics on Feb. 6.

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Andrew Dampf, The Associated Press