Will it be business as usual for Arsenal or will Inter Milan provide a stumbling block?

Arsenal have played out two 0-0 draws in the Premier League. This has hugely disappointed fans that expected at least a goal to be scored. The Gunners still sit seven points clear at the top of the Premier League table. Sandwiched between those draws were two wins in the FA Cup and EFL Cup. There’s positives and negatives heading into this tie. Arsenal sit three points clear at the top of the Champions League table, but will face a side that are placed 6th. An away trip to the San Siro awaits Arsenal as they look to confirm automatic qualification to the knockout stages.

Form

Inter Milan have consistently been one of the best Italian clubs around for the past few seasons, even making it to a Champions League final a couple of campaigns ago. Their Serie A form has matched what we see in Europe. This season, things are much the same for the Milan side. They sit top of the Italian league, three points clear of their neighbours, AC Milan. In the Champions League, they sit 6th on 12 points. They’re level on points with both Madrid sides and Liverpool. In addition to this, they find themselves just three points off 2nd place Bayern Munich. All is going well for Cristian Chivu, the man who replaced Simone Inzaghi.

Turning to results, Inter are unbeaten in the Serie A since the 23rd November. That was against AC Milan. That’s a nine game streak, winning all but one which was a 2-2 draw against Napoli on Sunday 11th January. Chivu’s side have only lost four times this season, in the Serie A, two of which have come at home. However, Champions League form has dipped as they’ve lost on their last two outings. Liverpool and Atletico Madrid both found a way to beat the Italians. In terms of where Inter are succeeding, they’ve scored the most goals in the Serie A, beating the team in 2nd place by 10 goals. However, goals conceded, although impressive, isn’t the best in the league. In the Champions League, the I Nerazzurri have been very good defensively. Only Arsenal have conceded less goals than the six that Inter have. However, the attacking output is average at best. 12 goals puts them towards the top end of the middle pack. It’s fair to say Inter will be a big challenge, but they have their struggles.

Injuries

Chivu will be blessed to have a majority of his key players available for this tie. Josep Martinez, Raffaelo Di Gennaro, Denzel Dumfries, Tomas Palacios and Hakan Calhanoglu will all be unavailable for this tie. The only two that would be considered a miss would be Dumfries and Calhanoglu. Chivu also rested a couple of players ahead of this tie, Alessandro Bastoni, Marcus Thuram and Francesco Acerbi were all dropped to the bench.

Who to Watch: Lautaro Martinez

It’s kind of the obvious choice, but it’s obvious for a reason. This man is good. He’s the Serie A top scorer this season with 11 goals. He’s also scored four in the Champions League. I watched Inter’s game against Liverpool and Lautaro caused the most issues. His movement is world class and his finishing is top notch. He threatened on multiple occasions to break the deadlock, but just couldn’t apply the finish.

Inter Predicted Lineup

Italian teams tend to deploy a back three. Inter go for a 3-5-2. The defensive structure will have them sitting with five at the back and the three man midfield deployed in front of them, not necessarily having one sit deep. Barella, Zielinski and Mkhitaryan will all interchange and move freely around the midfield zone. Dimarco and Henrique will push high and provide the width in attacking transitions. Thuram and Lautaro Martinez sit in and around the two centre backs. Either will drop deeper to receive, but not both of them as the other will be looking for that through ball. Inter’s back three are also used to joining in the buildup, so expect them to step forward and combine with the players around them.

As I explained in my last post, this is a game that we can use our squad depth in. Players that don’t often get minutes, to give our main stars a rest. Declan Rice, Martin Zubimendi, Gabriel, Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard, Leandro Trossard and Viktor Gyokeres can all rest. At least for the first half, if things need changing then the team can shift around. That team is strong enough to cause problems, but also withstand pressure. Let’s get it!