Italy Round 33

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AC Milan vs. Inter Preview:

Possible starting lineups:

AC Milan:
Maignan; Calabria, Tomori, Gabbia, Hernandez; Bennacer, Reijnders; Pulisic, Loftus-Cheek, Leao; Giroud

Inter Milan:
Sommer; Pavard, Acerbi, Bastoni; Darmian, Barella, Calhanoglu, Mkhitaryan, Dimarco; Thuram, Martinez

The Milan derby, also known as 'Derby della Madonnina', is one of the most awaited encounters in world football, and both teams display great attitude in the match. It is one of only few city derbies that are always played in the same stadium. The venue is named "San Siro" when Milan are the hosts, or "Giuseppe Meazza" when Inter. It is called "Derby della Madonnina" in honour of one of the main sights in the city of Milan, the statue of the Virgin Mary on the top of the Duomo, which is often referred to as the "Madonnina" ("Little Madonna" in Italian).

The first derby match between Milan and Inter was held in the final of the Chiasso Cup of 1908, a football tournament played in Canton Ticino (Switzerland), on 18 October. The Rossoneri won 2:1. A total of 238 official matches are played between these two sides over the years. Inter have won 90 matches, Milan 79 and 69 games finished with draw. Counting only the Serie A matches, the Nerazzurri are better again. Since 1929, they have 69 wins, while Milan won 54 times.

AC Milan were fantastic in March. They played six matches and won all of them. The fans were hoping April could be similar after they beat Lecce in the first game, but the next three were not so successful. AC Milan dropped two points against Sassuolo in Serie A, playing a 3:3 draw and suffered a painful elimination from Europe League. The draw with Sassuolo could somehow be swallowed as Stefano Pioli heavily rotated the players. In addition, they were two goals down, so the draw was a good result. Of course, the European exit surely disappointed the fans. To be worse, they lost both games against Roma, 1:0 at home and 2:1 in the Capital. The atmosphere in the squad is far from ideal. To be worse, Pioli has three unavailable players - Simon Kjaer was forced off by a flexor problem in Sassuolo, while Malick Thiaw must serve a suspension and Pierre Kalulu is still injured.

Inter are leaders on the table in Serie A with 83 points. They have 14 points more than AC Milan, with only six games still to play. In other words, Inter are now just one win away from being crowned champions. A victory in the derby would also see them tie Serie A's record for the earliest a team has guaranteed the title, matching Napoli's feat last season. Almost all players are ready for the derby, only the veteran wing-back Juan Cuadrado will miss out due to injury. Coach Inzaghi has two good news as Benjamin Pavard and Lautaro Martinez served one-match bans against Cagliari. Alexis Sanchez and Yann Bisseck should make way for Martinez and Pavard respectively, but no other changes are expected. Inter have no European fixtures and the players are fresher than Milan's men.

AC Milan vs. Inter Prediction:

I expect an open and efficient match at San Siro. Inter need one more win to secure the Scudetto and they will try to do the job. However, Milan players will like to post-pone the celebration. Both sides have players able to make a difference. Olivier Giroud has scored three goals and provided two assists in four Serie A matches against Inter to date, while Lautaro Martinez is the Nerazzurri's third-highest scorer in derby history with 8 goals. I expect both strikers to improve their records.

AC Milan vs. Inter Pick: Over 2.5 goals @ 1.74 with Pinnacle

 

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AC Milan vs. Inter Pick: Over 2.5 goals @ 1.74 with Pinnacle

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