Soccer Odds: Milan Favored Over Inter In Derby
A.C. Milan (+163) vs Inter Milan (+175), Draw (+220)
The Milan Derby, or Derby della Madonnina, between A.C. Milan (8-1-3, 25 points) and Inter Milan (5-2-5, 17 points), will take place on November 20 at San Siro, the teams’ shared stadium. A.C Milan will be the nominal home team and are also considered the heavy favorite.
The derby may not hold the same relevance as it used to when the two teams were international powerhouses, but it’s deeply steeped in tradition and still holds a lot of historical significance. The rivalry remains as fierce as it was in 1909, when the two teams first played.
Inter Milan are, once again, off to a very mediocre start. After twelve games, they sit at ninth place in Serie A. Internationally, they’re not doing much better. In their last Europa League group stage game against a lowly Southampton, they suffered a shock 2-1 defeat, putting them in last place in their group.
Inter’s upper-management is in turmoil. CEO Michael Bolingbroke recently handed in his resignation and head coach Frank de Boer was just sacked to make way for Lazio’s Stefano Pioli (who was, himself, sacked from Lazio after a terrible season).
The way things are looking, Inter is headed for their sixth consecutive season outside the Champions League. They’ve drifted a long way away from the treble-winning side of 2010 (Serie A, Coppa Italia and UEFA Champions League). The only glimmer of hope is their top scorer, Mauro Icardi, who has scored 10 goals in 12 games. To put that in perspective, their next top scorer, Ivan Perisic, has only scored three.
A.C. Milan had a terrible 2015-16 season, finishing 10th in Serie A and missing out on both the Champions League and Europa League. But their 2016-17 season hasn’t been too bad at all. They’re currently in third-place after twelve games, and they’ve even managed to beat Juventus this season, after nine consecutive losses.
While Inter have lost four of their last six games, A.C. Milan have won five of their last six. And, as a silver lining for their disastrous 2015-16 season, they don’t have any leagues other than Serie A to worry about. Everything’s coming up Milhouse for old A.C. Milan.
Pick: A.C. Milan (+163).
Photo credit: “La segunda mano de dios” by Oscar (Flickr) [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/].
Don Aguero is a man of many talents, writing about nearly anything you can put odds to. Don has been writing for SportsBettingDime since 2015, covering sports, entertainment and politics. You name it, he's covered it! He is also a steadfast West Ham fan, and has learned to embrace that suffering.
