Previews · Serie A ·
AC Milan vs Inter: Cissè has to carry an injury-hit Milan against the leaders
- Kick-off
- Venue
- Stadio Giuseppe Meazza (San Siro), Milan
Our call: a draw, 1–1
Milan's patched-up defence should concede, and Cissè against Bastoni is where Milan find their reply.
We'll mark this call after full time.
Logged 29 Oct, 09:41 UTC, never edited.
In 30 seconds
- Inter are top on 25 points, level with Lazio; AC Milan are fifth on 18, seven points behind their neighbours.
- Milan were without Rabiot, Gila, Chukwueze and Moreira against Bologna and lost Tomori at half-time; Inter are still without Lautaro Martínez.
- Inter will score at San Siro, but a tired Milan still take a point.
The story
Ruben Amorim's AC Milan lost their first Serie A game of the season on Wed 28 Oct, 4–2 at home to Bologna. Bologna scored first, Alphadjo Cissè scored twice before half-time to put Milan ahead, and Bologna then scored three times after the break, Samuel Mbangula finishing with a hat-trick. Amorim said his side had looked tired from the first minute, and the injury list grew: Fikayo Tomori went off at half-time with a thigh problem, on a night when Adrien Rabiot, Mario Gila, Samuel Chukwueze and Diego Moreira were already missing.
Cristian Chivu's Inter won on the same night at Venezia, 2–0, with both goals Venezia own goals in the last ten minutes, and Chivu admitted they had been lucky. It kept them top. Chivu said Inter go into the derby with eight wins and one draw in the league. Lautaro Martínez is still injured.
Milan are fifth on 18 points, seven behind Inter, with Lazio, Roma and Como between them. A Milan win cuts the gap to four; an Inter win stretches it to ten.
Inter arrive in much better shape than their neighbours, and we expect them to score against a patched-up Milan defence. This decides it: whether Cissè, playing behind Gonçalo Ramos, finds space around Alessandro Bastoni to give Milan a reply.
Form
Two heavy defeats in this run, one of them at home.
Four wins in a row since the defeat by Club Brugge.
The games, with scores
| AC Milan | 28 Oct | v BolognaSA | L 2–4 |
| 25 Oct | at UdineseSA | W 2–0 | |
| 22 Oct | at BournemouthUEL | L 0–3 | |
| 18 Oct | v AtalantaSA | W 3–2 | |
| 15 Oct | at Red Bull SalzburgUEL | W 4–0 | |
| Inter | 28 Oct | at VeneziaSA | W 2–0 |
| 25 Oct | v FiorentinaSA | W 2–1 | |
| 21 Oct | v Shakhtar DonetskUCL | W 1–0 | |
| 17 Oct | at BolognaSA | W 3–1 | |
| 13 Oct | v Club Brugge KVUCL | L 3–4 |
Latest first. Latest on the left. SA = Serie A, UEL = Europa League, UCL = Champions League. OddsIntel match database, read 28 Oct 2026.
Team news
Checked Thu 29 Oct 07:40 UTC: Football Italia (Tomori and Milan's absentees, 28 Oct; Venezia 0–2 Inter report, 28 Oct), Corriere dello Sport (Rabiot, Gila and Moreira, 24 Oct; Lautaro, 28 Oct) and Sky Sport (both line-ups). Reported means the club has not yet confirmed it for this match. Line-ups: confirmed about an hour before kick-off; they go under Updates. We don't publish guessed XIs.
Rabiot and Moreira, with 3 goals each in Milan's last ten, have both missed Milan's last two games; Cissè started against Bologna. For Inter, Lautaro has 4 goals in their last ten; Marcus Thuram and Carlos Augusto both started at Venezia. Milan's eleven below had Tomori at right-back, so a change in defence is likely.
Inter 3-5-2 · at Venezia, 28 Oct
- Provedel
- BisseckBastoni (key battle)Carlos Augusto
- DioufSučićStankovićZielińskiDimarco
- ThuramBonny
- Ramos
- Cissè (key battle)
- BartesaghiJashariMusahHutchinson
- EstupinánPavlovićDe WinterTomori
- Maignan
AC Milan 4-4-1-1 · v Bologna, 28 Oct
Both last XIs on a pitch
Inter 3-5-2 · at Venezia, 28 Oct
- Provedel
- BisseckBastoni (key battle)Carlos Augusto
- DioufSučićStankovićZielińskiDimarco
- ThuramBonny
- Ramos
- Cissè (key battle)
- BartesaghiJashariMusahHutchinson
- EstupinánPavlovićDe WinterTomori
- Maignan
AC Milan 4-4-1-1 · v Bologna, 28 Oct
Who to watch
The duel to watch: Alphadjo Cissè against Alessandro Bastoni. Cissè played behind Gonçalo Ramos against Bologna and scored both Milan goals; Bastoni played in the middle of Inter's back three at Venezia. If Cissè finds the space between Inter's midfield and Bastoni, Milan have their goal; if Bastoni steps out and wins it, Milan have little else up front.
AC Milan
Alphadjo Cissè
Plays behind the striker, and carries Milan's attack with Rabiot and Moreira missing.
- 6
- goals, AC Milan's last 10
Inter
Marcus Thuram
Leads Inter's line with Lautaro out, and started at Venezia.
- 4
- goals, Inter's last 10
Inter
Carlos Augusto
Played on the left of Inter's back three at Venezia with a stomach bug, Chivu said, and still gets forward.
- 4
- goals, Inter's last 10
Player goals count only where we hold a named scorer: each side's last ten games, all competitions. OddsIntel match database, read 28 Oct 2026.
Head-to-head
We hold eight derbies since 2023, and the newest five are below. Milan are unbeaten in these five.
All 5 meetings
Result for AC Milan. Eight meetings held, back to 2023; the newest five shown. OddsIntel match database, read 28 Oct 2026.
Numbers that matter
Goals scored, last ten: AC Milan 18, Inter 24 (higher is better)
Inter ahead, though two of their 24 came in a friendly against Lumezzane.
Goals conceded, last ten · fewer is better: AC Milan 15, Inter 13 (lower is better)
Close; Milan let in four against Bologna and three at Bournemouth, Inter four against Club Brugge.
Games without scoring, last ten · fewer is better: AC Milan 2, Inter 0 (lower is better)
Milan drew blanks against Benfica and Bournemouth, both in the Europa League.
Last ten games each, all competitions (Inter's include one friendly). OddsIntel match database, read 28 Oct 2026.
Our call, explained
Our call: a draw, 1–1. The derby record says Milan, the form says Inter, and we think the two meet in the middle. Inter have scored in each of their last ten games, and Milan's back four is being rebuilt game by game: if Tomori is out, De Winter and Pavlović face Thuram and Bonny without him. But Cissè is in form, Inter needed two own goals to win at Venezia, and a Milan side at home in a derby, with something to put right after Bologna, will not sit back.
Where this could go wrong. Milan have conceded in seven of their last ten, including four against Bologna, and with Tomori, Gila and Rabiot all in doubt, Inter could win by two. The other way, Inter lost 3–4 at home to Club Brugge on 13 Oct, and if Rabiot is back and Cissè keeps scoring, Milan could win it.
Updates
Nothing has changed since we published. Next: Amorim's and Chivu's pre-match news, then confirmed line-ups, about an hour before kick-off.
Data note: results, scorers, the table and line-ups from our database, read 28 Oct 21:10 UTC, so the counts run to both sides' games on 28 Oct. A player goal count leaves out any goal whose scorer we do not hold (2 of Inter's 24 in their last ten). Team news and match details from Football Italia, Corriere dello Sport and Sky Sport.
Our call was timestamped by an independent service before kick-off, Thu 29 Oct, 10:30 UTC.
How the timestamp works
Timestamped before kick-off by an independent service (DigiCert, RFC 3161), Thu 29 Oct, 10:30 UTC. The call file is the exact version that was timestamped. The file with our call and its timestamp token: call file · timestamp. Its fingerprint (sha256):
2945be4042a69e9d9cc207bd8dcdceb80ae8405a050132fc978782e9f05df032
Our calls so far
- calls right
- 28/44
- home win every time
- 19/44