Four days after excellent Champions League results for Inter and Milan, the city rivals go head-to-head in the 260th ‘Derby della Madonnina’ on Sunday night.
Milan defeated Manchester United 1-0 on Wednesday and Inter earned a 1-1 draw at European champions Porto.
The Rossoneri have won their last four games to wipe out Juventus’ eight-point advantage at the top of Serie A. In contrast, the Nerazzurri, unbeaten in all competitions this season, are eleven points adrift of the joint-leaders after their 16th draw in 25 Serie A outings at Udinese last week.
With Filippo Inzaghi and Andriy Shevchenko injured, ex-Inter man Hernan Crespo and Jon Dahl Tomasson will form a partnership up front for Milan. Giuseppe Pancaro is suspended while fellow defender Jaap Stam is doubtful after suffering a muscle injury in the warm-up for the game at Old Trafford.
Inter have no fresh injury concerns for the game and will hope previously prolific Adriano can score for the first time in 2005.
Elsewhere, Juventus welcome third-from-bottom Siena without Pavel Nedved and David Trezueguet. The Czech midfielder is spending a few days in hospital following a clash of heads during the Champions League defeat by Real Madrid while the striker is ill.
Meanwhile, sixth-placed Palermo hope to keep their European ambitions going when they host a Roma side missing the suspended Francesco Totti. Parma fresh from beating Stuttgart in the UEFA Cup, visit Lazio.
Cagliari take on bottom side Atalanta, Bologna take on Livorno, Lecce coach Zdenek Zeman faces former club Messina and Chievo go to Reggina. On Saturday, Sampdoria and Udinese, level in fourth place, travel to strugglers Brescia and Fiorentina respectively.
