In many ways, a game such as this one does not require much explanation as to why there could be plenty of cards.
The Derby della Madonnina has always been a fiery game which feels heightened by the fact the two sides share the San Siro. AC Milan are the home team this time for what is an unusually early in the season derby. Both teams have not looked as strong as they perhaps would have liked to look so far this season. Inter have already suffered a disheartening 3-1 defeat away at Lazio and Milan have drawn two of their opening four games.
Both teams will be really keen to get all three points here as a draw is of little use. That should lead to lots of attacking play and therefore lots of fouls as attacks are launched.
Daniele Chiffi is going to be in charge of this game and he is not someone who is shy of handing out cards. He gave out seven in his last match which was a Serie B clash between Pisa and Genoa. He tends to give out between three and six yellow cards in his games.
It is very important to consider who will actually be starting the game before deciding to place bets on certain players to get booked or sent off. It seems that in the midfield and defensive positions, there are no major injury concerns to consider and it is too early in the season for many suspensions to be at play.
The major player who is not involved in this game is Romelu Lukaku. He suffered a thigh injury in the training session after the 3-1 defeat to Lazio last weekend and that ruled him out of the midweek victory over Cremonese. It was then confirmed that he will be re-evaluated at the beginning next week, meaning he will play no part against the Rossoneri on Saturday evening.
AC Milan were without Ante Rebic and Divock Origi for the match against Sassuolo in midweek which ended 0-0 but they are thought to be fit enough for the bench in this game. New signing Malick Thiaw is expected to be on the bench and whilst he isn’t a pick to get a card, he is a decent outside shout as he could be brought on if Milan are protecting a lead and he is a centre-back.
AC Milan v Inter Milan Predicted Line-ups
AC Milan’s possible starting lineup (4-2-3-1): Maignan; Calabria, Kalulu, Tomori, Hernandez; Bennacer, Tonali; Messias, Diaz, Leao; Giroud
Inter Milan’s possible starting lineup (4-3-3): Handanovic; Skriniar, De Vrij, Bastoni; Dumfries, Barella, Brozovic, Calhanoglu, Dimarco; Martinez, Dzeko
Marcelo Brozovic
Marcelo Brozovic operates in the sort of role where if he never got a yellow card, you’d have to question if he is doing his job properly. The Croatian sits at the base of Inter’s midfield and does all that he can to break up opposition attacks whilst then launching Inter’s attacks with quarterback-style passes.
He is absolutely integral to the way that Inter play and whilst he does get forward very readily, he will have a heightened defensive responsibility in this one as they are against quality opposition and are the away team. He has been booked twice already in the first four games of the season and he got seven last season.
Given how effective AC Milan are on the break, there will almost certainly be a situation where Brozovic is forced to bring a player down in midfield in order to stop a dangerous attack from developing.
Last season, he had the joint highest number of fouls in the Inter side as he was penalised 43 times, level with Milan Skriniar. He is very clever at racking up the right type of foul to disrupt his opponent whilst not getting close to being sent off. He may well be going into this one expecting to get a yellow card.
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Prediction: Marcelo Brozovic to be Shown a Card @ 2.63 on Paddy Power
Theo Hernandez
Theo Hernandez is a player that winds up a lot of Serie A fans. It’s very possible that he winds up every single Serie A fan bar a small number of AC Milan fans.
He is a truly wonderful footballer but he is very prone to an argument with the ref, a sily foul, or a little dive in the box when he thinks he could grab his side a penalty. For those reasons, he is always a very safe bet for a yellow card, especially in a big game such as this one.
He has also been booked twice already this season and he was third highest in the Rossoneri squad last season for bookings with five. He made the third most fouls in the squad last season and he is currently third highest again this season.
But as was mentioned, fouls aren’t the way that I picture him getting into the book in this match. His gamesmanship will really come to the fore in the Milan derby and he is likely to talk his way into the book at some point having felt that he has been fouled or a teammate has been wronged in some way by the official. He will be doing all that he can to get into the Inter box at every given occasion which then lends itself to going down easily in the box.
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Prediction: Theo Hernandez to be Shown a Card @ 2.80 on Paddy Power
Ismael Bennacer
This pick is predominantly down to the same reasons that Marcelo Brozovic could end up in the referee’s notebook. Out of him and Sandro Tonali (who would also be a decent pick) he is likely to be the one that aids the attack less and is hanging back to cover any counter-attacks from Inter.
He has an extremely aggressive way f playing the game in midfield and he will be snapping at the ankles of the likes of Hakan Calhanoglu, Nicolo Barella, Joaquin Correa and Lautaro Martinez throughout the match on Saturday evening.
He got the second most yellow cards last season for Milan behind Sandro Tonali. The reason he has been picked over Tonali here is that the Italian will likely have a more creative role to play out of the two given the quality of the opposition.
It will be a surprise if he does not play the entire game as he has been in very good form for Stefano Pioli’s side this season and he is a very effective screen in front of Pierre Kalulu and Fikayo Tomori.
The diagonal runs across the face of the box that both Calhanoglu and Barella like to do very much lend themselves to a foul from Bennacer that results in a yellow card.
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Prediction: Ismael Bennacer to be Shown a Card @ 2.50 on Paddy Power
Milan Skriniar
The Slovakian defender was one of the names that was at the centre of the Serie A transfer market as for so long it seemed that they may let him go to Paris Saint Germain. In the end, the Nerazzurri kept him and a major part of why is that he had no interest in actively pursuing the move.
He is adoring his time at Inter and that is why he will be right up for this match and will be at it from the very first whistle. He is currently the player who has committed the second most fouls in Serie A this season, behind only Spezia’s Simone Bastoni.
It is often said that there are two types of defenders. Cat-like defenders who are careful with when they pounce and like to jockey attackers into a less dangerous area, and then dog-like defenders who fly into challenges before their opponent has had a chance to get control of the ball. Think of Raphael Varane as a cat, and then Milan Skriniar as a dog.
He can often be seen flying into the back of a striker as they receive the ball around the halfway line. The majority of the time, he gets it spot on as he is a superb defender. There is always the very real chance that he cleans someone out and the referee has no choice but to award a very obvious yellow card.
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Prediction: Milan Skriniar to be Shown a Card @ 3.50 on Paddy Power
Written by an Andy verified content writer
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How to watch AC Milan v Inter Milan in Serie A?
đź“…Â Â When is AC Milan v Inter Milan? / Saturday, 3rd September 2022, 17:00
🏟  Where is AC Milan v Inter Milan? / San Siro (Milan)
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