Andrea Pirlo expects a battle when Juventus come face to face with a wounded Inter this weekend.

The Old Lady go into the Stadio Meazza encounter sitting at the top of the table, with double the amount of points which the Nerazzurri have accumulated so far.

Pirlo admits that he’s been surprised by his former side’s struggles, but isn’t underestimating them ahead of tomorrow night’s showdown.

“To see them so far away in the standings is very strange,” the Italian international told Tuttosport on Friday.

“After spending so many years at the top you don’t expect to encounter such difficulties, but they’ll want to beat us tomorrow.”

Pirlo has been a major reason behind Juve’s encouraging start to the season after leaving Milan over the summer on a Bosman.

“I could have stayed at Milan, but I needed a new challenge,” he added. “I wanted to win with a different shirt.

“I think that we, Napoli and Milan, are Scudetto candidates.

“We are trying to follow the Barcelona model of football – to play with pace in attack and by aiming to win honours with youngsters.”