Inter Milan face Napoli in a top of the clash as AC Milan look to take advantage

(Football news) Inter Milan face Napoli in a top of the table clash as both teams desperately need to win this crucial match. After losing the Milan Derby last weekend, Inter are just a point clear of both their rivals and this week's hosts, Napoli who won 2-0 at Venezia to record a fourth successive league victory. Following a destabilising period with all those injuries and illness, in which they won only two of their previous nine, Napoli have now won their last four league matches as they took advantage of their favourable fixture list. It gave the opportunity for their squad to recover both physically and psychologically during the winter break, Luciano Spalletti's side have also kept a clean sheet in three matches. As a result, Napoli have retained their status as Serie A's best defence, and only conceded a total of just 16 goals, surpassing even Inter's tally of 19.

Since their 3-2 win over Napoli, Inter have just gone from strength to strength, and only experienced their first league loss in nearly four months when they lost the Derby della Madonnina. Inter had an unbeaten run of 28 home matches in Serie A (featuring 25 wins) and it was now brought to a halt which was incidentally their previous league loss which came back in October 2020, also to Milan. Inzaghi’s side have suffered just one defeat and a scoring rate of two goals per game which makes them one of the hardest sides to beat, so Napoli will surely be made to fight until the final minute if they are to prevail.

For Napoli, wingers Adam Ounas and Hirving Lozano face fitness tests and Axel Tuanzebe is still troubled by a back problem as Napoli's star defender Kalidou Koulibaly could be set to miss out for the home side, having only just returned to Italian soil from Senegal. For Inter, only Alessandro Bastoni is unavailable due to suspension, following his late sending off in the Derby while back-up forward Joaquin Correa and new signing Robin Gosens are still sidelined as they continue to recover from thigh injuries.

AC Milan face Sampdoria as they look to take advantage of Inter facing Napoli. The Scudetto challengers followed their Derby victory over with a smooth progress to the Coppa Italia semi-finals, so they will be intent on extending that streak at San Siro against a Samp side which posted just their sixth win of the season last weekend.After the mercurial Rafael Leao got the Rossoneri off the mark against Maurizio Sarri's men, French forward Olivier Giroud bagged his second brace in the space of four days to seal a semi-final clash with city rivals Inter next month.

The two-legged encounter will be awaited keenly by fans of both teams and neutrals alike, following especially after last Saturday's Derby della Madonnina, in which Stefano Pioli's side came on top as Inter's long unbeaten league run as Giroud struck twice in the final 15 minutes. As a result, Milan have got 52 points in Serie A and lifting them within one of their Nerazzurro rivals who have played a game more – and the second city giants have only managed such an impressive tally at this stage three times previously since the turn of the century.

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