We just sprung forward with our clocks yesterday for daylight savings time here in the US, can Milan spring forward in the table and maybe, just maybe, make a run at the Scudetto? Well, they have a chance to take a major step forward if they can manage to bring home all 3 points today vs Inter in the second…and final…Derby della Madonnina of the season.
MATCHDAY:
LAST FIVE
MILAN: WWDLW
INTER: LWLWD
FORMATIONS
MILAN (3-5-2): Maignan (C); Tomori, De Winter, Pavlović; Saelemaekers, Fofana, Modrić, Rabiot, Estupiñan; Pulisic, Leão
INTER (3-5-2): Sommer; Bisseck, Akanji, Bastoni; Henrique, Barella (C), Zielinski, Mkhitaryan, Dimarco; Esposito, Bonny
TIME/LOCATION
TIME: 3:45pm EST/6:45pm GMT
PLACE: San Siro, Milano
WHERE TO WATCH:
Paramount+ and FuboTV here in the US of Aye (Spanish broadcast on Fox Deportes in the US); FuboTV and TLN for Canada; TNT in the UK (maybe?); ESPN for Mexico; DAZN for Germany, Austria, Switzerland; a website called GXR for our friends in India; and illegal streams that support dictators and oligarchs everywhere.
*Let us know if this needs updating or if you have additional broadcasters to add*
WHAT TO WATCH FOR:
What is there to say for this? Milan is playing a top team, and for this season, they have been the best in the league at earning points vs the fellow top 6 contenders. I’m not expecting a huge departure from the other top 6 contests, namely that Milan is going to sit back, absorb, and try to sting Inter on the counter. It’s a solid approach especially vs a team who loves to attack and attack early. Inter leads the league in goals scored and goals scored in the first 20 minutes, so expect them to try and get one early even if Lautaro is out injured.
For Milan, it looks like Estupiñan is going to start for a banged up Bartesaghi and of course Gabbia is out for a month after surgery for a hernia, so De Winter is starting there. Allegri is once again going with Leão and Pulisic which is…fine? I think this non-striker pairing works best when Milan is sitting and countering but I think having a true #9 in there would be better. So, don’t expect Milan to be at their best offensively until Füllkrug comes in.
These derbies are hard to predict. The first game started off slow and had the lone goal scored after the half (Pulisic), as well as the missed penalty by crowd favorite, Hakan. Does this game repeat that same pattern? Or do we get an open game and a few goals from each side?
PREDICTION TIME:
I’m going with a tight one-goal win in either direction. But make no mistake, a loss here and any Scudetto hopes are gone, so at the minimum Milan need a draw but most likely a win to keep that hope alive.
Let’s go beat some merda.
Forza Milan
gillis