The first of two special derbies in the space of six days pits together city rivals AC Milan and Inter Milan, at their shared home of San Siro.
With a place in the Champions League final at stake, the Calcio giants will battle it out for a first-leg advantage ahead of next week’s decider at the same iconic venue.
Team News
AC Milan
- After stumbling against Cremonese a few days earlier, Milan selected a more conventional starting XI for their 2-0 win over Lazio. at the weekend. Olivier Giroud, Theo Hernandez and Sandro Tonali returned to the side.
- However, Rafael Leao’s game was ended early in the first half due to a muscular injury. Alexis Saelemaekers came on in his place, causing concern about his readiness for Wednesday. If the Portuguese forward is unable to recover, Saelemaekers could deputise again, rather than Ante Rebic being recalled.
- Only Tommaso Pobega and Zlatan Ibrahimovic are set to miss out due to injury. The latter is not registered for the Champions League in any case. Thefore, the only other change made by Stefano Pioli may be Brahim Diaz replacing Junior Messias on the right flank of a familiar 4-2-3-1 formation.
Inter Milan
- Inter, meanwhile, initially left Lautaro Martinez, Edin Dzeko and Henrikh Mkhitaryan on the bench in Saturday’s game at Stadio Olimpico. But all three could return to the starting lineup in midweek.
- A recently revived Romelu Lukaku will have other ideas, though, as Simone Inzaghi has seen signs of life in the Belgian’s once-prosperous pairing with Martinez of late. Dzeko would therefore stay sidelined if the famed ‘Lu-La’ partnership is reunited.
- Soon to exit San Siro for Paris, Milan Skriniar joins Robin Gosens in missing out due to injury, but Danilo D’Ambrosio could return to the squad after overcoming a muscular problem.
Possible Lineup
AC Milan: Maignan; Calabria, Tomori, Kjaer, Hernandez; Tonali, Krunic; Diaz, Bennacer, Saelemaekers; Giroud
Inter Milan: Onana; Darmian, Acerbi, Bastoni; Dumfries, Barella, Brozovic, Mkhitaryan, Dimarco; Martinez, Lukaku
Prediction Analysis
Sure to be a tightly-contested affair, with so much at stake and both teams practicing safety-first football, it could be just one goal which separates the sides after the tie’s first 90 minutes.
Inter’s depths of attacking talent are more substantial – and they have recently started firing on all cylinders – so the Nerazzurri are set to lead their Rossoneri rivals ahead of next week’s decider.
Our prediction is AC Milan 0-1 Inter Milan