AC MILAN v INTER: OPPONENT REVIEW

The derby has never been and never will be an ordinary match. Over the course of their 115-year rivalry, AC Milan and Inter have played 238 matches against each other in all competitions, 179 of which have been in Serie A since the introduction of the round-robin format. In front of their home crowd, the Rossoneri will try to emerge victorious from the first-ever derby to be played on a Monday. Indeed, after the upcoming match, the cross-city clash will have been played at least once on every day of the week. Giroud and Co. will be aiming to treat the Rossoneri fans to a win against a side who they last beat in the second half of a Serie A campaign on 5 February 2022. It was a decisive victory on the way to the Scudetto title, which AC Milan secured thanks to eleven wins and four draws from their final 15 games. And it was the Frenchman's unforgettable brace that provided the catalyst for that unbeaten end-of-season run.

As for this campaign, Inter have picked up 83 points so far. Should they win on Monday, they'd reach 86 points in a single Serie A season for the fourth time in their history (three points per win), after 1950/51 (86), 2006/07 (97) and 2020/21 (91). Taking the end of last season into account, the Nerazzurri have scored in each of their last 40 league fixtures - a club record - while they are also unbeaten in 26 matches (W21, D5) in the Italian top flight. Only three times in their history have they gone on a longer undefeated run in Serie A (this last occurred between April 2007 and February 2008). However, Inter have drawn two of their last four league fixtures (W2), as many as in their previous 20 games (W18). AC Milan, meanwhile, are ten unbeaten at San Siro (W8, D2). They last did better than this in a single season when they went twelve without defeat (W10, D2) between November 2012 and May 2013.

SOLID DEFENCE, DEVASTATING ATTACK AND RAPID COUNTER-ATTACKS: THE NERAZZURRI’S NUMBERS
The numbers underline Inter's excellent campaign so far. Defensively, the Nerazzurri have conceded the fewest goals (17) and kept the most clean sheets (19) across the top five European divisions in 2023/24. Only once have Inter recorded more shutouts in a single Serie A season: 20 in 1988/89. Simone Inzaghi's team combine defensive solidity with a dangerous attack that has scored 77 goals in 2023/24, more than any other Serie A side (16 of these goals have been netted by defenders, again the highest tally in the division) and second to only Bayern Munich (82) across the major leagues in Europe.

Inter are particularly dangerous when they manage to drop back before attacking the space in a direct fashion. The Nerazzurri have scored the most goals from direct attacks (eight) and are also jointly leading the way across the top five European divisions in terms of goals scored from counter-attacks (nine, level with Heidenheim, Leipzig and West Ham). AC Milan need to make sure that they don't push too high up the pitch and leave the flanks exposed to Nerazzurri counters. This is what happened in four of the last five cross-city clashes, during which the Rossoneri (an average of 60%) had more possession than Inter but conceded an average of 2.8 goals per match.

LAUTARO ON THE GOALSCORING PODIUM, ÇALHANOĞLU AGAINST HIS FORMER CLUB
Having found the net eight times against AC Milan, Lautaro Martínez is Inter's third-highest scorer ever in the Derby di Milano (in all competitions), behind only Giuseppe Meazza (twelve) and Stefano Nyers (eleven). The Argentinian could become the fifth player to reach double goalscoring figures for a single team in matches between AC Milan and Inter, with Shevchenko (14), Nordahl (eleven) and the previously mentioned Meazza and Nyers having previously achieved this. The Inter No.10 isn't just pursuing Nerazzurri greats in the derby, he's also aiming to achieve a historic feat in Serie A. Taking into account every league season in the past 50 years, Martínez could become the fifth Inter player to score at least 24 goals in the opening 33 matches of a single Serie A campaign, following in the footsteps of Vieri (24 in 2002/03), Milito (24 in 2011/12), Ronaldo (25 in 1997/98) and Icardi (24 in 2016/17 and 28 in 2017/18).

In recent times, when the cross-city clash is talked about, former Rossonero Hakan Çalhanoğlu is inevitably mentioned. The Turk has four goal involvements (two goals and two assists) in five Serie A matches against AC Milan, for whom he made 135 appearances, scored 22 goals and provided 31 assists in the Italian top flight between 2017 and 2021. This season, Çalhanoğlu has become the second Inter midfielder to score at least eleven goals in a single Serie A campaign in the three-points-per-win era, after Perišić (eleven in 2016/17 and 2017/18). The last Nerazzurri midfielder to do better than this was Lothar Matthäus, who bagged 16 in 1990/91.

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