AC Milan vs Inter Milan Italian Serie A 23-11-2014

AC Milan vs Inter Milan - Competition: Italian Serie A

AC Milan team have seen their bid to return to UEFA Champions League  football seriously damaged by recent results. After starting the season hot with 14 points from their first 7 league games, the hosts have now picked up just 3 from their last 4 after failing to capitalize on very winnable games against Cagliari and Palermo. Poor defence has seen them concede in every match this season but one, with the lone clean sheet coming against 18th place Chievo. That must change if they hope to win against an Inter team possessing the likes of Icardi and Palacio, and centre-back pairing Mexes and Rami certainly have the ability to do so but must be more consistent throughout the full 90 minutes. However, the Rossoneri do possess a high-powered attack led by French attacker Jeremy Menez and Japanese winger Keisuke Honda. The former has 4 goals on the season, and his goal last time out to salvage a draw with Sampdoria was well-taken and could provide him with the confidence he needs to push on. The latter, on the other hand, has arguably been Milan’s finest player this season, scoring a team-leading 6 goals in league play and adding 2 assists to his tally. With so much firepower in attack, it’s hard to see Milan losing this derby match.

Inter team have been vast disappointments under manager Walter Mazzarri this season. While it wasn’t expected entering the new term for them to give a proper challenge for the top 3, a current 9th place standing will have the fans up in arms. However, help is on the way, as Mazzarri has been shown the exit door and in steps former manager Roberto Mancini. The Italian won 3 league titles with the Nerazzurri back in 2006-2008, and club loyalists will be ecstatic to see their potential savior return to the fold. He has much work to do though, not least of which is getting their top goalscorer from the past 2 seasons (41 goals in all competitions) in Rodrigo Palacio firing again. The Argentine forward has not scored in 743 minutes of play this season, missing a few sitters and a penalty to boot. While young phenom Mauro Icardi has been firing on all cylinders and shows real promise as an up-and-coming talent, he can’t do it all by himself. His dejected look as he was subbed off last time out following a late blown lead to Hellas Verona said it all, and help must come from Palacio or Osvaldo. The latter has been in the medical room for much of the season, but when he has been on the field Inter have scored 13 of their 17 Serie A goals this season. Fortunately for the “visitors,” Osvaldo is back and at full fitness.

AC Milan last 5 matches:

26/10/14 Milan 1 – 1 Fiorentina
29/10/14 Cagliari 1 – 1 Milan
02/11/14 Milan 0 – 2 Palermo
05/11/14 Milan 2 – 0 San Lorenzo
08/11/14 Sampdoria 2 – 2 Milan

Inter Milan last 5 matches:

26/10/14 Cesena 0 – 1 Inter
29/10/14 Inter 1 – 0 Sampdoria
01/11/14 Parma 2 – 0 Inter
06/11/14 Saint-Étienne 1 – 1 Inter
09/11/14 Inter 2 – 2 Hellas Verona

Match date: 23 November 2014
Kick Off Time: 19:45 BST
Venue: Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, Milano

You can watch the match here: Link 1 , Link 2 [Live Scores]

Categories: Italian Serie A