Milan v Inter preview: Amorim’s side defend derby run against unbeaten leaders

Milan v Inter at San Siro on Saturday night pits the unbeaten Serie A leaders against the one rival they cannot seem to beat.

Main image: DSN graphic.

Kick-off in the Derby della Madonnina is 19:45 UK time, with Marco Guida the referee. Cristian Chivu’s Inter top the table with 25 points from nine games and have dropped points only once, in a 2-2 draw at Roma. Ruben Amorim’s Milan are fifth on 18, seven points behind.

Milan v Inter: the derby record

The table says Inter, the recent history says Milan. The Rossoneri are unbeaten in their last seven derbies and won both league meetings last season 1-0, through Christian Pulisic and Pervis Estupiñán, their first Serie A double over Inter since 2011.

Chivu has tried to play the occasion down. According to GOAL, citing Gianluca Di Marzio, the Inter coach wants his players to treat it as just another league game, insisting there are no favourites in a derby and pointing out that Milan beat Inter last season and then lost to Lazio.

Amorim admitted at his Friday press conference that his side must improve after an up-and-down run, with Inter arriving as the most consistent team in the division.

Form guide

Milan arrive bruised. They were beaten 4-2 at home by Bologna last weekend, their only league defeat, and lost 3-0 at Bournemouth in Europe in midweek. Before that they had won at Udinese and beaten Atalanta 3-2 and Lecce 3-0.

Inter have won their last four league games, including a 3-1 win at Bologna and a late 2-0 success at Venezia, though they were edged 4-3 by Club Brugge in the Champions League. Several of the Italy regulars on both sides featured in our France v Italy Nations League preview last month.

Team news

Milan are without Fikayo Tomori (thigh), Matteo Gabbia, Alexis Saelemaekers and Samuel Chukwueze, but Adrien Rabiot and Mario Gila are back. Pulisic and Luka Modrić, rested in midweek, are expected to return. Twenty-year-old Alphadjo Cissé has four league goals, and Rabiot also has four.

Inter are expected to be without captain Lautaro Martínez, who has a flexor problem, along with Benjamin Pavard, John Stones, Curtis Jones and Luis Henrique. Marcus Thuram, also on four league goals, is likely to lead the line with Pio Esposito.

Key numbers	Milan	Inter
League position	5th	1st
Points (9 games)	18	25
Last 5 league games	W3 D1 L1	W4 D1 L0
Last 7 derbies	Unbeaten	No wins
Top league scorers	Cissé, Rabiot (4)	Thuram, Lautaro (4)

What to watch

Can Inter’s wing-backs pin Milan back without Lautaro’s movement up front, and can Milan’s patched-up defence cope without Tomori? Amorim also has new options in attack, including the forward whose arrival our sister site DGBN covered when Forest forward Hutchinson joined AC Milan on loan. It is one of the weekend’s standout derbies, alongside the Derby du Nord between Lille and Lens and Chelsea v Man Utd in the Premier League.