Arsenal are in Milan today to face Inter Milan on MD7 of the Champions League league phase. The Gunners are the only club with a perfect record through six matches and are virtually guaranteed a top 8 finish. Inter are tied sixth on 12 points and at risk of missing a ticket straight into the knockout stages proper. They’ve got Arsenal today and a trip to Dortmund next week — two tough fixtures to reach that 15-point threshold.
I’d expect both sides to deploy full-strength lineups (or close to it)
without much rotation. If either of the two sides rotate a bit, it’ll be Arsenal, who have a bigger cushion in both the CL and Premier League. Inter are only three points ahead of rivals Milan for the top spot in Serie A. But don’t expect much change from Mikel Arteta. The Arsenal manager rotated his starting lineup against Nottingham Forest and gave key players a bit of a break with second half subs, too.
The Gunners don’t want to get ahead of themselves but they host Kairat Almaty on MD8. The Kazak side are bottom of the CL table with an 0-1-7 record, 5 goals for and 19 against. It’s tough to see a world where Arsenal don’t win that match to clinch the top spot in the table. Technically, if Bayern Munich win both their remaining matches and Arsenal lose to Inter and beat Kairat, the two sides would finished tied for first in the table. They’d still have to overturn a 5-goal, goal difference gap to finish ahead of Arsenal, too.
That’s a long way of saying that Arsenal could lose to Inter Milan and still be the likeliest side to win the league phase. The Gunners will want to beat Milan, though. They’d tell you it’s because they want to win every match and put themselves in the best position to finish atop the table. But this bunch want a bit of revenge, too. That’s who they are (see e.g. Aston Villa at the Emirates). Inter were the only side to beat them in the league phase last season, and they won on a…let’s call it “European” penalty award. It was the type of handball call you see in UEFA competitions but not in the Premier League. Arsenal were every bit as good as the Italian side in that match last season and probably slightly better. They’ll want to prove that today.
The Gunners will be without Riccardo Calafiori, who has missed seven games with a muscle problem. Arteta has been rather tight-lipped about the nature of the Italian’s injury and his return timetable. Piero Hincapie is out with a groin problem, although he’s expected back soon. Max Dowman is expected to be out for another few weeks with an ankle injury. Cristhian Mosquera and Kai Havertz are back with the team.
Inter Milan will be without Denzel Dumfries and Hakan Calhanoglu. Dumfries will be out through March after having ankle surgery in mid-December. Calhanoglu is expected back from a calf problem in a week or two. The home side will also be without young centerback Tomas Palacios and backup keeper Raffaele Di Gennaro.
Arsenal – Raya, Timber, Saliba, Mosquera, Lewis-Skelly, Zubimendi, Merino, Eze, Saka, Trossard, Jesus
Inter Milan –
WHO: Arsenal at Inter Milan
WHAT: Champions League league phase match day 7
WHEN: Tuesday, January 20th, 12:00 pm PT | 3:00 pm ET | 8:00 pm GMT
WHERE: San Siro Stadium, Milan
HOW TO WATCH: Streaming Paramount+ app
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