AC Milan are set to play an important fixture, perhaps one of the most decisive games so far in the season: the 'Derby di Milano', also known as 'Derby della Madonnina'. Millions of people will have their eyes fixed on their screens to see which side of the great city of Milan will come out victorious, or if both teams would eventually settle for a draw.
Stefano Pioli has definitely been working hard with his staff to prepare his squad for tomorrow's Serie A clash valid for matchday 24 for the Rossoneri. Inter are still missing one more game. The Nerazzurri are leading the race as they are first with 53 points. As for the red and black faithful, they are tied in second place with Napoli as both have collected 49 points so far during this campaign.
Il Diavolo will be taking the field without, unfortunately, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Ante Rebic (do not forget also Simon Kjaer who's season has ended due to injury). As for Fikayo Tomori, there is hope that he can be available, at least on the bench. Here are the statements of coach Pioli regarding the condition of players mentioned above:
"As far as I’m concerned there are no good or bad pre-games, there are weeks of work. We had the time to prepare. Neither Zlatan nor Ante will be available. Tomori has done a great job, he will be available but not from the start, I believe." (full press conference here)
As per the latest information, it seems that the former Inter and Fiorentina boss will be relying on Franck Kessié as an attacking midfielder instead of Brahim Diaz whose performances as of late have not been up to expectations. The Ivorian midfielder played in that role in the game against Empoli and even scored two goals. Therefore, and hopefully for Milan fans, the Rossonero number 79 will repeat that display up front. However, there is also another important reason behind using him as a playmaker. In fact, the AC Milan gaffer Stefano Pioli could use the defensive and man-marking qualities of Kessié in order to 'suffocate' the midfielders of Inter and their central defenders when they have the ball. That way, Kessié can try to press and cut the passing lines in the Nerazzurri's half, and therefore they will not have it easy when it comes to distributing the ball and starting attacks.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic will unfortunately not be available to play tomorrow, but Olivier Giroud is looking to lead his teammates to a victory as he also is aiming to score a goal against the bitter rivals in what will be his first Milan derby. (In the first leg's derby, Giroud sat on the bench for 90 minutes)
The French centre-forward will have a lot of work to do against the organised defence of Inter and he will have to dominate in the air as the wingers will be searching for him through crosses because heading is usually his strong point.
Probable lineups of Inter and AC Milan:
Simone Inzaghi, former coach of Lazio, will be hoping to win his first Scudetto in his coaching career and a win for him tomorrow would be a big step forward indeed. He will be aiming for 3 points with this likely formation:
3-5-2: Handanovic; Skriniar, de Vrij, Batons; Dumfries, Barella, Brozovic, Calhanoglu, Perisic; Dzeko, Lautaro Martinez
As for the visitors, this should be the probable lineup of coach Stefano Pioli:
