On the back of a derby defeat, wounded Serie A champions Inter Milan will host Como, who have established themselves as regular contenders for European competitions, on Sunday at San Siro.

After 10 rounds in the Italian top flight this season, only two points separate these teams as Inter sit second to Lazio, and Roma wedged in ahead of Como in fourth.

Verdict: Total goals over 3.5

Best odds: 11/10

Bookmaker: BetNow

Inter Milan

It was a sour blow for the Nerazzurri as they lost to city rivals AC Milan last week, with goals from Christian Pulisic, Adrien Rabiot and Diego Moreira settling the contest in the first half already, despite Alessandro Bastoni pulling one back. It was the eighth Derby della Madonina in a row which Inter failed to win, and a game which ended a streak of 19 without losing. To be fair to Cristian Chivu, his squad was decimated by illness, and those who played wasted a chance to impress.

Inter bounced back on Tuesday already, beating Feyenoord in the Champions League and showing improvement on what had previously been an underwhelming start in UEFA’s elite competition. Yan Bisseck, Pio Esposito and Piotr Zielinski all found the net in Rotterdam. With half the league phase now played, Chivu’s men sit in 14th place, still in strong contention to qualify for the knockout stage.

History still favours the hosts on Sunday strongly. Inter have won 14 consecutive home games against Como, keeping eight clean sheets in the last nine. It remains to be seen, however, whether that will play any part against Cesc Fabregas’ side this time.

Team News

Chivu will be pleased to welcome back a trio of important players in defenders John Stones and Benjamin Pavard, and midfielder Curtis Jones. All three have now returned to full training.

Esposito and Marcus Thuram will most likely be forming the attacking duo, as captain Lautaro Martinez misses out again and is expected back after the upcoming international break. Wing-back Luis Henrique is absent as well.

Como

Since Fabregas took charge of the team in the summer of 2024, Como have been a thoroughly refreshing feature of Italian and European football. Last season they finished fourth and qualified for the Champions League against all odds, and here they are now, fourth again, aiming to do even better this time. Some even see them as genuine title contenders.

After losing away to Feyenoord in mid-October, Como have won six matches in a row in all competitions.

Having triumphed 1-0 at home against Venezia last week, they absolutely annihilated Lens in France on Wednesday, putting nine goals past the Ligue 1 side with seven different goalscorers. Anastasious Douvikas netted a hat-trick, while Nico Paz, Lucas Da Cunha, Marc-Oliver Kempf, Mattia Liberali, Martin Baturina, and Matteo Papaccioli, got one each. Ruben Aguilar, who scored the only goal for Lens, cannot be said to have provided any consolation for the hosts.

Therefore, Como will certainly arrive in Milan in good spirits, hoping to finally get this particular scalp. They won’t come to lose, or play merely to avoid defeat.

Team News

Como’s recent form is even more impressive given the number of players missing. Forwards Moise Kean, Jayden Addai, Jesus Rodriguez and Assane Diao are all injured, as is defender Trevoh Chalobah.

Nonetheless, Douvikas and Paz are more than capable of causing all sorts of problems for opposition defences, including that of Inter.

Key Factors to Consider

• History, which favours Inter, isn’t likely to play a big role in this contest.
• Inter lost to city rivals AC Milan last week but bounced back with a victory over Feyenoord in the Champions League.
• Como are comming into the clash on the back of a sublime 9-1 victory away to Lens and six wins in all competitions on the bounce.
• Forwards of both teams are capable of making a strong impact in this duel.
• Como hope to finally defeat Inter in Milan.

Conclusion

For the neutral football lovers, this will surely be a game not to miss, but the supporters of the two sides will need nerves of steel.

Neither defence is likely to withstand the onrush of the opposing attackers, so it wouldn’t be a surprise for the ball to find its way into both nets more than once. As for the outcome, the bookies do favour Inter, but Como will surely have their say on that.