Inter Milan vs AC Milan

The Milan derby is once again upon us as Inter Milan play host to AC Milan at the Giuseppe Meazza. The defending champions of Inter are at home and their first place standing makes them the logical favorite for many. However, they will be going against an AC Milan outfit who are coming off of a victory in the World Club Cup and are very motivated at this time.

Inter are coming off of a 0-2 win away to Cagliari in their Round 16 match . With that win the neroazzurri were able to extend their lead over 2^nd place Roma to 7 points with 40 on the season. They are the only undefeated side left in Serie A and are winners of their last 5 straight. During this stretch they have outscored the opposition by 13 to 1. In short they have been absolutely dominant at times during the present campaign. While they have had a number of injuries over the past few weeks including such high profile players as Patrick Vieira, Francesco Toldo, Luis Figo and Dejan Stankovic, they have not missed a beat. They will be getting an important player back this week as Ibrahimovic returns to join Julio Cruz in the attack. Cruz has been on fire of late and appears to score a goal in every match- he is that effective. If Inter’s attack were not impressive enough, they have not conceded a goal in 4 matches. Manager Roberto Mancini is certainly living a charmed life these days.

Milan are in 11^th place of the league table with 18 points, 3 back of 10^th place Catania. They did not play a league match in week 16 as they were participating and winning the World Club Cup with a superb 4-1 win over Boca Juniors in the final with Kaka leading the way. Their last match was also a derby, at home to Juventus and they played to a 0-0 draw. The only injury concern for this match is striker Ronaldo who is back in Brazil trying to rehab but manager Carlo Ancelotti still has a couple of doubts. The question marks are right fullback where Oddo appears to have the edge over Cafu, while the other doubt is who will be the lone striker- Pippo Inzaghi or Gilardino. At this time Inzaghi looks to have the inside track to starting with the dynamic due of Clarence Seedorf and Kaka behind him. The overall starting eleven is as close to ideal as AC Milan can get these days.

While Inter are certainly the more in form squad at this time it’s impossible to rule AC Milan completely out. There is a reason why they are the defending UEFA Champions League title holders and World Club champions as well. They also have the world’s player in Kaka for good measure. Look for both sides to play as if it were the world cup final and each to grab a share of the points.

Prediction: Draw (1-1)