The 177th edition of the Serie A Derby della Madonnina comes up this Saturday as AC Milan hosts their City rivals Inter Milan in an early top-of-the-table clash at the San Siro.
Venue: Stadio Giuseppe Meazza (San Siro) (Milan)
Key Statistics
AC Milan are unbeaten in their last 20 league matches (W14, D6).
Stefano Pioli’s side have won their last five league games played at the San Siro.
They have scored 2+ goals in four of their last five games as hosts.
AC Milan’s Mike Maignan has secured five clean sheets from his last eight league outings.
No side in the top-five European league has kept more clean sheets in 2022 than AC Milan’s 14.
Inter Milan have scored nine goals in the league this season. Only Napoli (10) have scored more.
The visitors have lost two of their last three away league games entered as visitors (W3).
They have scored in each of their last 19 competitive games.
Head to head
Inter Milan holds the better record in this fixture as they have won 67 out of the 176 times they have played each other. AC Milan have 533 wins while there has been 56 draws between both sides.
Latest performances in all competitions
AC Milan: D-W-D-W-W
Inter Milan: W-L-W-W-L
AC Milan
Although AC Milan have renewed their rivalry with long-standing foes Inter Milan this season, this is the first time both sides battle for points since last season when AC Milan won the battle for the title on the last day of the season.
The two Milan giants became tied on 19 titles apiece when AC Milan finished first in the Scudetto race ahead of Inter whose Bologna last season opened the door for Stefano Pioli’s side to end their ten-year wait for the title.
But this season Milan’s start has been worse than their rivals. The Rossoneri come into this tie on the back of a 0-0 draw with Sassuolo, taking their points tally for the season to eight points after four games.
They are still unbeaten in this Serie A edition (W2, D2) but cannot afford to drop more points as they are already trailing their rivals by one point. A win in this game could take them to the top of the league albeit temporarily if Juventus and Napoli fail to win their respective games on Saturday.
Given that they are unbeaten in their last 20 league games they will be confident that their resilience will shine through and take them over the line in this game.
Possible AC Milan starting line-up
Mike Maignan; Alessandro Florenzi, Simon Kjaer, Fikayo Tomori, Theo Hernandez; Tommaso Pobega, Ismael Bennacer; Rafael Leao, Alexis Saelemaekers, Brahim Diaz; Olivier Giroud.
Injured: Divock Origi, Ante Rebic, Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Doubtful: Rade Krunic
Suspended: None
Inter Milan
Despite tasting defeat against Lazio in their third game of the season, Inter Milan come into this game sitting in second place, one point behind AS Roma.
The Nerazzurri were beaten 3-1 by Maurizio Sarri’s Lazio last weekend, but bounced back in midweek, beating newly-promoted Cremonese to restore hope in their quest for the Scudetto.
They might hold the psychological advantage given that they beat their San Siro cousins in their last official meeting; a 3-0 win in the Coppa Italia.
But with Milan posing a strong defensive unit this year given that no side in the top-five European league has kept more clean sheets in 2022 than AC Milan’s 14, Milan will have to be on their best in an attacking sense to get a positive result in this game.
They have the tools to break down a stubborn Milan defence though as they have already scored nine times this year while Lautaro Martínez who is in red-hot form, however, with at least one goal contribution (G3, A1) in each of his first four Serie A games can be trusted to do the job at the San Siro.
Possible Inter Milan starting line-up
Samir Handanovic; Milan Skriniar, Stefan de Vrij, Federico Dimarco; Denzel Dumfries, Nicolo Barella, Marcelo Brozovic, Hakan Calhanoglu, Matteo Darmian; Edin Dzeko, Lautaro Martinez.
Injured: Romelu Lukaku, Henrikh Mkhitaryan
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
Prediction
AC Milan 1-1 Inter Milan
