Two teams with a rivalry and a history that dates back to 1900, will meet this weekend. The first Derby della Madonnina of the year will take place at the San Siro when Inter Milan and AC Milan play in the fourth round of the 2019/20 Serie A season. A fixture, which normally comes late in the season, will be coming early this campaign.
The two sides, which have little love for each other, will enter this contest focused as the derby always brings the best out of both clubs. Inter Milan will be coming off a short week of rest as they played their first game in Champions League against Slavia Prague. Meanwhile, AC Milan will have a full week of rest and training after being banned from Europa League this past summer due to breaking Financial Fair Play regulations.
While both clubs have been successful in winning their recent Serie A fixtures, they haven’t won convincingly as both teams continue to adjust to their coaching changes. Inter signed Antonio Conte this past summer while AC Milan had Marco Giampaolo come after leaving Sampdoria.
In their last match, Inter won 1-0 while being up a man most of the game versus Udinese. This recent fixture had Stefano Sensi scoring a header near half time from a nice pass from Diego Godin to win the game. Sensi, who came over from Sassuolo, continues to be a bright spot in Inter’s squad this season. The midfielder has scored two goals for the Nerazzurri and has been a strong presence when he’s in the lineup.
As for AC Milan, they were also up a man in their match but needed the assistance of the referee to award the Rossoneri a penalty kick. The Polish striker, Krzysztof Piatek made no mistake scoring and it resulted in a win for Milan. Both teams coming off a win will look to continue their recent success at the San Siro.
Milan is winning at the right time as their recent matches with Inter have not been good. AC Milan have only won three of their last 17 encounters with Inter Milan, winning just once in their seven most recent match-ups. Throughout the history of the derby, the Nerazzurri have won on 80 occasions which has been four more their rivals. The last time these two teams were matched up against each other it was Inter who stole the show and won. This time AC Milan will look to rewrite the script and take advantage of a squad that had to play mid-week.
Suspensions and Injuries
Inter: None
AC Milan: Mattia Caldara is out indefinitely, and Davide Calabria will be out after collecting a red card in the previous fixture versus Udinese.
Predicted Line Ups
Milan (4-3-2-1): Donnarumma; Conti, Musacchio, Romagnoli, Rodriquez; Biglia, Kessie, Calhanoglu; Suso, Paqueta; Piatek
Inter (3-5-2): Handanovic; Godin, de Vrij, Skriniar; Candreva, Barella, Sensi, Asamoah; Martinez, Lukaku.
Clash of Players
Inter’s defence continues to improve this year as newly acquired defensive back Diego Godin was brought from Atletico Madrid. The centre back has been a great addition to the Nerazzurri as he’s been a strong presence in the backfield and providing depth. The defence has been vastly improved from last season and continues to grow. As for Stefano Sensi, who is another player Inter invested in this past summer, he has also made his mark with the team. So far, he has two goals this season and has helped the midfield as well.
As for AC Milan, goals have been hard to come by this season as, in their first three games, they have only scored a combined 2 goals. While still being able to score and win 2 of their 3 games, they will need more from Piatek if they are to have a chance of winning against Inter Milan. The forward had a successful season with Genoa last year and Milan and will try to build off his recent match where he scored his first goal of the season.