Lautaro's and Giroud's form promise goals in Derby della Madonnina

Finally, the international break is over, and what a beauty at the start of Serie A – Derby della Madonnina! It’s been a long time since the eternal rivals from Milan were both at the top of the table in Italy, ahead of their derby. They are currently the only two teams in Serie A with a perfect record, and judging by their early displays, they will be the main candidates for the first place, along with the title defender Napoli. The only difference between them at the moment is the goal difference – Inter has clean sheets in all three matches, while Milan conceded two goals in the same number of games. But when it comes to the derby record, Inter absolutely stands out.

Nerazzuri won all four of the games between the two teams in 2023, with Milan failing to register a goal in any of the fixtures across the Supercoppa Italiana final, the Serie A game and the two legs of the Champions League semi-final. Lautaro Martinez gave Milan a good scare in the previous derbies: he decided the second leg of the semi-final of the Champions League, the last derby in the Italian championship, and before that, he also scored in the Super Cup final. So far, he scored five goals in Serie A. But if you ask the coaches, those four wins don’t mean a thing.

“I am proud to have won some derbies last season, especially because they led us to the Champions League Final, but what we did in the past is not enough to win” said Simone Inzaghi.

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His counterpart from Milan Stefano Pioli thinks similarly.

“I don’t care about the last derbies, I only care about today. Otherwise, we could talk about the title we won, contrary to Inter. The only thing that matters is putting the best solution for our playing style into practice” said AC Milan coach.

The focus of Milan's defence will definitely be on Lautaro, but they will also have to pay attention to Marko Arnautovic, the double scorer against Sweden - he could start instead of Thuram - and Inzaghi's dilemma will be who to push into the midfield. Davide Fratessi also fired two accurate shots earlier in the week to give the Italians victory over Ukraine. However, he has not made a single start in the league this season. Henrik Mkhitaryan should be in the starting 11, because he was with the team all the time during the break, so Hakan Calhanoglu or Niccolò Barella could potentially move to the bench.

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The Inter’s defensive trio is almost always Bastoni - De Frey - Darmian, and Dimarco and Dumfries are on the outside. They will all be keeping an eye on Olivier Giroud, whose injury was of a minor nature and is ready to start from the first minute. Like Martinez, he is at the top of the scorers' list, he netted four times in the championship, and he also knew how to be the deciding factor in the Milan derby. Pioli, unlike Inzaghi, has personnel problems. Pierre Kalulu is out due to injury. Fikayo Tomori earned a red card against Roma and is suspended, so Simon Kier will partner Malik Tschau. The Rossoneri's defence is already more vulnerable than Inter's, so a huge burden will fall on the shoulders of the midfield. If it doesn't go well - as it was the previous four times in which the Nerazzurri triumphed - Luka Lović could get a chance in the future and thus make his debut in the derby of the city of Milan.

SERIE A - MATCHDAY 4

Saturday

16.00: (1.95) Juventus (3.50) Lazio (4.40)

19.00: (2.25) Inter (3.50) Milan (3.40)

21.45: (5.60) Genoa (3.70) Napoli (1.65)

Sunday

13.30: (3.00) Cagliari (3.35) Udinese (2.55)

16.00: (2.85) Frosinone (3.45) Sassuolo (2.60)

16.00: (2.20) Monza (3.35) Lecce (3.60)

19.00: (2.45) Fiorentina (3.40) Atalanta (2.85)

21.45: (1.45) Roma (4.30) Empoli (7.75)

Monday

19.30: (3.40) Salernitana (3.35) Torino (2.30)

21.45: (2.90) Verona (3.25) Bologna (2.70)

***odds are subject to change