There is no doubting what match will be the highlight of the Serie A weekend with the Derby della Madonnina between AC Milan and Inter Milan taking place at the San Siro on Sunday evening.
More commonly known as the Milan Derby, the match between the two fierce rivals will round off another busy weekend in the Italian top flight, which will kick-off with Empoli’s home clash with Genoa on Friday.
Three more matches will take place on Saturday, including the usually hotly-contested fixture between Juventus and Fiorentina, while the Milan Derby will be one of six games on the calendar on Sunday.
By Tom McGarry
Inter to Burst Milan’s Bubble
AC Milan have enjoyed a near-perfect start to the Serie A season, as alongside Napoli they have won 10 and lost none of their opening 11 fixtures in the division, while they are five wins from five domestically at the San Siro.
Stefano Pioli’s side will head into Sunday’s derby sitting seven points clear of Inter in the standings, but the signs are that the Nerazzurri are starting to find their feet under Simone Inzaghi, losing just one of their previous 11 matches across all competitions.
Inter have also dominated this fixture over recent times, winning six of the last seven meetings between the two sides, and they are priced 5/4 to take the spoils on Sunday.
Juve to Return to Form Against Rivals
Although there is over 270 miles separating Juventus and Fiorentina geographically, there is still a fierce rivalry between the two sides.
Juve have tended to have the upper hand in the fixture, winning 86 of the 185 previous meetings compared to Fiorentina’s 41, but the Old Lady will head into Saturday’s clash at the Allianz Stadium having lost back-to-back Serie A matches against Sassuolo and Verona.
However, Massimiliano Allegri’s side did return to winning ways during the the week by beating Zenit Saint Petersburg in the Champions League and they will be facing a Fiorentina outfit on Sunday that have lost two away games on the spin.
I Viola also failed to score during those defeats at Venezia and Lazio, which makes a Juventus win to zero all the more intriguing at odds of 33/20.
Atalanta to Bounce Back From Ronaldo Repeat
For the second Champions League match in a row, Atalanta saw their hearts broken by Manchester United’s Cristiano Ronaldo, who struck a 90th-minute equaliser to deny La Dea victory in Bergamo during the week.
That 2-2 draw with United will have left a bitter taste in the mouth for Gian Piero Gasperini’s side, but they have the ideal opportunity to bounce back when they visit Serie A’s bottom club Cagliari on Saturday night.
Cagliari have won just once all season and have slipped to the foot of the table following a run of three successive defeats, while they have also failed to take anything from their last four meetings with Atalanta.
Atalanta certainly look well placed at 20/43 to win the match at Unipol Domus, but given they have failed to keep a cleansheet in any of their last seven games, backing an away win and both teams to score could offer the better value at 29/20.
*All odds correct at time of writing.