Serie A official Week 28 line-ups: Milan vs. Inter
Inter start an all-new partnership of Francesco Pio Esposito and Ange-Yoan Bonny with Piotr Zielinski, while Milan hope Luka Modric can inspire Rafael Leao and Christian Pulisic.
It kicks off at San Siro at 19.45 GMT (20.45 CET).
You can follow all the build-up and action as it happens from today’s Serie A games on the Liveblog.
Not only is this a Derby della Madonnina and bitter local rivalry, it’s also a decisive crossroads in the Scudetto race, because leaders Inter are 10 points clear of Milan in second place.
The Nerazzurri were held 0-0 by Como in the Coppa Italia semi-final first leg on Tuesday, when adopting a new tactical system with Davide Frattesi and Andy Diouf in advanced roles to support a single centre-forward.
Marcus Thuram was meant to start today, but he is suffering from flu symptoms and is not even fit for the bench, with Lautaro Martinez still out after that calf injury against Bodo/Glimt.
Curiously, the Argentine is named ‘on the bench’ just so he can be close to his teammates and cheer them on.
It means a brand-new strike pairing of Esposito and Bonny, while Hakan Calhanoglu is rested after making his first start in six weeks with Como.
Instead, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Zielinski take the midfield reins, with Denzel Dumfries slowly making his way back to full fitness after several months out due to ankle surgery.
Milan have problems of their own to deal with, because Matteo Gabbia had an operation for a sports hernia and is expected to be out for a month, joining Santiago Gimenez on the absentee list.
Davide Bartesaghi avoided a serious flexor injury, but the twinge against Cremonese was enough to mean he’s on the bench, replaced by Pervis Estupinan.
Pulisic and Leao work on their partnership, with Modric and Adrien Rabiot in midfield.
Inter are unbeaten in Serie A since their loss to Milan on November 23, followed by a 2-2 draw with Napoli, and 14 victories.
Milan vs. Inter line-ups
Milan: Maignan; Tomori, De Winter, Pavlovic; Saelemaekers, Fofana, Modric, Rabiot, Estupinan; Leao, Pulisic
Inter: Sommer; Bisseck, Akanji, Bastoni; Luis Henrique, Barella, Zielinski, Mkhitaryan, Dimarco; Esposito, Bonny