AC Milan vs. Inter Milan preview, team news and h2h: Chukwueze’s derby test

Samuel Chukwueze faces the ultimate test for Ruben Amorim and an AC Milan side who have won the last two derbies against Inter Milan in Serie A and are chasing a third straight victory over their city rivals for the first time since 2011, Afrik-Foot reports.

The clubs meet again in a fresh chapter of the Derby della Madonnina on Wednesday, August 5, at Optus Stadium in Perth, Australia, with kick-off at 12:00pm UK time.

The Italian champions arrive with several first-team absences, while Milan will hand debuts to Rúben Amorim’s project, with Gonçalo Ramos and Rafael Leão joining the squad directly in Australia. Nigeria international Samuel Chukwueze is expected to start for the Rossoneri and will come up against one of Serie A’s most productive full-backs in Federico Dimarco.

Predictions for AC Milan vs. Inter Milan in Perth

Match analysis: New cycles tested in Perth

AC Milan head into the friendly hoping to launch a fresh cycle after an uneven campaign. The club finished the 2025/26 Serie A season in fifth place with 70 points and secured Europa League football, falling short of a return to the Champions League.

The closing weeks proved decisive: despite a 24-match unbeaten run, the longest in Serie A last season, Milan lost seven of their final 13 league fixtures and saw fourth place slip away at the last opportunity.

Milan’s opening friendly, a 2-2 draw with Celtic, reflected that transitional state. The side recovered from two goals down, but a shaky first half exposed gaps in organisation and cohesion early in Amorim’s tenure.

Inter Milan arrive in far more settled shape. The reigning Italian champions collected 87 points in Serie A 2025/26, with 27 wins and just five defeats, and also lifted the Coppa Italia. The numbers back up their status as favourites: Inter Milan had the league’s best attack, with 89 goals scored, and the third-best defence, conceding 35.

The frustration for Inter Milan came in Europe. Elimination by Bodø/Glimt in the Champions League knockout play-offs left a mark on an otherwise strong campaign, and the Perth derby offers head coach Cristian Chivu an early opportunity to show organisation and response at the start of 2026/27.

Head-to-head between AC Milan and Inter Milan

Inter Milan hold the historical advantage in Serie A meetings between the sides. Across more than a century of rivalry, Inter Milan have won 70 derbies to Milan’s 55, with 57 draws. The 2025/26 season, however, broke the recent trend. Milan won both league derbies 1-0, completing their first derby double since 2010/11.

Wednesday’s friendly in Perth will be the first Derby della Madonnina played in the Southern Hemisphere. Outside Italy, the fixture has previously been staged in New York, Foxborough and Shenzhen, but never before on Australian soil.

AC Milan and Inter Milan team news

AC Milan: injuries and absences

Milan will be without several key figures for the Australian tour. Goalkeeper Mike Maignan and midfielder Adrien Rabiot, who both featured in France’s World Cup semi-final, are not due to report back until August 12 at Milanello. Christian Pulisic remains sidelined through injury and did not travel, while Santiago Giménez is also injured, though both are expected to resume training at Milanello in the coming weeks.

Ismael Bennacer has terminated his contract at the club and is set to join Qatari side Al Gharafa, further thinning Milan’s midfield options. Christopher Nkunku, meanwhile, suffered a muscle strain before the squad’s trip to Scotland and his involvement in the derby depends on his recovery.

Pervis Estupiñán has travelled with the squad but finds himself in an uncertain position. The scorer of the winning goal in Milan’s last Serie A derby win, the left-back is in talks over a move to Aston Villa and could yet leave the club.

Six players are joining the squad directly in Australia: Rafael Leão, Gonçalo Ramos, Luka Modrić, Alexis Saelemaekers, Koni De Winter and Ardon Jashari. Ramos is expected to make his first appearance in Rossoneri colours.

Francesco Camarda gained momentum after the Celtic draw. The 18-year-old forward scored twice and was the standout performer in the comeback in Glasgow, and could be given another chance if Amorim opts to rotate his squad.

Predicted AC Milan lineup (3-4-3): Lorenzo Torriani; Strahinja Pavlović, Fikayo Tomori, Mario Gila; Alexis Saelemaekers, Youssouf Fofana, Samuele Ricci, Davide Bartesaghi; Samuel Chukwueze, Gonçalo Ramos, Rafael Leão.
Head coach: Rúben Amorim.

Inter Milan: injuries and absences

Inter Milan have travelled with 27 players for the international tour but are without their regular strike partnership. Lautaro Martínez, the captain and Serie A’s top scorer in 2025/26, remains on leave following Argentina’s World Cup campaign. Marcus Thuram is also absent from the squad. The France forward suffered a calf injury during the World Cup, saw limited action in the tournament and was given extended leave afterwards.

Manuel Akanji, who represented Switzerland at the World Cup, is also unavailable, reducing Chivu’s defensive options at a time when he is already reshaping the back line following key summer departures.

Yann Sommer’s contract expired on June 30 and he has since joined Club Brugge. Francesco Acerbi, Stefan de Vrij and Matteo Darmian also left the club when their deals ran out, while Denzel Dumfries has completed a move to Real Madrid.

Despite the departures, the squad still features several key figures from Chivu’s system. Nicolò Barella, Federico Dimarco, Hakan Çalhanoğlu, Alessandro Bastoni and Piotr Zieliński are all available and expected to form the core of the side.

With Lautaro Martínez and Thuram unavailable, Francesco Pio Esposito and Ange-Yoan Bonny are set to lead the attack. Esposito appears the stronger candidate to start, while Bonny offers mobility and physical presence.

Predicted Inter Milan lineup (3-5-2): Josep Martínez; Yann Aurel Bisseck, Benjamin Pavard, Alessandro Bastoni; Davide Frattesi, Nicolò Barella, Hakan Çalhanoğlu, Piotr Zieliński, Federico Dimarco; Francesco Pio Esposito, Ange-Yoan Bonny.
Head coach: Cristian Chivu.

Player spotlight: Rafael Leão vs. Federico Dimarco

The head coaches: Amorim rebuilds, Chivu seeks consolidation

Rúben Amorim

Rúben Amorim is the third Portuguese coach to take charge of Milan in recent years, following Paulo Fonseca and Sérgio Conceição. The club’s hierarchy has opted for a coach with a clear identity, known for developing young players and working with a back three.

His spell at Manchester United was turbulent, but it has not erased the strong work he did previously at Sporting Lisbon. In Perth, the task is a practical one rather than a symbolic one: identifying which players already respond to the 3-4-3 system and which still need time to adapt.

Cristian Chivu

Cristian Chivu is enjoying an unusual start to his managerial career at Inter Milan. After a brief spell at Parma and time working in Inter’s academy, he took charge of an elite squad and responded by winning the Scudetto and Coppa Italia in his first full season.

The Romanian has kept the 3-5-2 as his base system but has adjusted several details in how the team functions collectively. He must now show he can maintain competitiveness without part of his title-winning defence and without his first-choice strike partnership in this stage of pre-season.

United in remembrance ❤️

In Perth, Rúben Amorim, his staff and the entire team observed a minute of silence in memory of Franco Baresi ❤️ pic.twitter.com/Btbhv017tM

— AC Milan (@acmilan) July 31, 2026

Tactical analysis of AC Milan vs. Inter Milan

The key tactical question centres on the clash between Rúben Amorim’s 3-4-3 and Cristian Chivu’s 3-5-2. Both formations are built around a back three, but Inter Milan arrive with far more settled mechanisms, while Milan are still working to establish their build-up patterns, wing-back coverage and interior combinations.

On Milan’s right flank, Samuel Chukwueze could prove decisive. The Nigeria international impressed against Celtic, providing an assist, and can offer depth in behind the Inter Milan defence, but he will come up directly against Federico Dimarco, one of the most productive players in his position in Serie A. Should Milan push too far forward on that side, they risk leaving space for the Inter Milan wing-back to exploit in behind.

In midfield, Inter Milan hold the advantage in cohesion. Nicolò Barella and Hakan Çalhanoğlu are far more familiar with Chivu’s system than Youssouf Fofana and Samuele Ricci are with Amorim’s, while Luka Modrić, if given minutes, could help Milan better control the spaces between the lines.

Correct score prediction for AC Milan vs. Inter Milan

Betting on an exact scoreline requires more caution than other markets, as a single incident can change the outcome. That risk increases in pre-season friendlies, where changes in personnel, formation experiments and fluctuating intensity levels make matches harder to predict.