Inter Milan vs AC Milan

Another match to look forward to is the Sunday match up at the San Siro – Inter Milan aiming for a record seventh consecutive win over ailing crosstown rivals AC Milan.

The first Milan derby takes place on the backdrop of the Rossoneri supposedly to have lost their opener in this week’s Champions League game; Inter, on the other hand, have started off their title defense as they best pitched against Manchester City last week.

It has been so much the case in the Derby della Madonnina that most Inter fans have likely lost their memory of how the bitter taste of being defeated to their arch rivals feels, such has been the performance of their team that as control three successive games across three different competitions and are yet to be trailed by an aggregate of 14-2.

Among those triumphs are two wins in the 2023 Champions League semis, a 5-1 league victory later in the year, and a 2-1 win in April when the Nerazzurri triumphed 20-time Italian champions, Milan.

Indeed, Inter have won nine of the clubs' 14 Serie A meetings since the start of the 2017-18 campaign: They have won more games in that period only against Udinese and Hellas Verona have they scored more goals only against Genoa and Sampdoria.

Should the Simone Inzaghi’s team secure the maximum points for the sixth time in succession this coming weekend, they would be equal to the record set by the former AC Milan this season A win could also see Inzaghi move up to the second on the list of most successful derby coaches – eight in all competitions puts him only second to Carlo Ancelotti.

Inter enters this match at six in the Serie A table, three points behind leaders Torino, after a whimper 1-1 draw against Monza last week, thanks to a last gasp equaliser from Denzel Dumfries.

While Inter faced England's champions and came away with a hard-fought point, Milan fell to Liverpool the day before, 3-1, after taking an early lead via Christian Pulisic.

Several Italian media agencies have reported that new coach Paulo Fonseca is almost going to be fired shortly, given his team has only won one of their first five matches.

Milan is 13th in the early Serie A rankings, with only five points, its poorest start since 2018.

Following reports of a schism with some of his key players prior to the international break, Fonseca reinstated Rafael Leao and Theo Hernandez into the starting lineup last week, and inside half an hour, the Rossoneri had already scored four goals through Hernandez, Pulisic, Leao, and newcomer Youssouf Fofana.

However, a 4-0 victory over rock-bottom Venezia has done nothing to stop speculation that iconic striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic - now an adviser to the club owners - is looking for a new manager, so Fonseca will be well aware that breaking Inter's winning run is a minimum prerequisite.

Milan last won a derby in September 2022, shortly after edging out their city rivals for the Serie A title, so triumph is long awaited for Rossoneri fans.