UEFA Champions League leaders Arsenal resume their European campaign with a trip to Milan, where they face Internazionale at the San Siro on Tuesday night.
Mikel Arteta's side have a 100% record in this year's UCL league phase with six wins from six, while Inter are also in the top eight, six points behind Arsenal in sixth place. A point will be enough for the visitors to confirm their spot in the last 16.
Arsenl come into the game on the back of a 0-0 draw away to Nottingham Forest, taking their Premier League lead to seven points, although Aston Villa can reduce that to four. Christian Chivu's side meanwhile, are also winter champions in Serie A, holding a six point lead at the top of the table.
Here's everything you need to know about Tuesday's game.
How to watch:
The match will be will be shown on Amazon Prime Video in the UK, Paramount+ in the U.S., SonyLIV in India and Stan Sport in Australia. You can also follow ESPN's live updates.
Key Details:
Kick-off time: Tuesday, Jan. 20 at 8 p.m. GMT (3 p.m. ET; 1:30 a.m. IST, Wednesday and 6 a.m. AEST, Wednesday)
Venue: Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, Milan, Italy.
Referee: João Pinheiro [Portugal]
VAR: Tiago Martins [Portugal]
Injury and Team News:
Inter Milan:
Josep Martínez, GK: ankle, OUT, est. return lat January
Raffaele Di Gennaro, GK: hand, OUT, est. return late January
Tomas Palacios, D: muscle, DOUBT
Denzel Dumfries, D: ankle, OUT, est. return mid March
Hakan Çalhanoğlu, M: muscle, OUT, est. return mid February
Arsenal
Piero Hincapié, D: hamstring, OUT, est. return late January
Cristhian Mosquera, D: ankle, OUT, est. return mid February
Riccardo Calafiori, D: muscle, OUT, est. return late January
Max Dowman, F: ankle, OUT, est. return mid February
Talking Points:
Inter and Arsenal are mirror images of one another
A sizeable lead atop their respective league tables, based on an excellent defensive structure that's netting them victory after victory.
The parallels between Inter and Arsenal's seasons are many, but essentially it boils down to the men at the helm sharing very similar philosophies. Both Chivu and Arteta take great pride in imposing a well-drilled defensive structure in their teams, and as a consequence these are two of the most miserly defences in Europe. In fact, in the Champions League, only Arsenal's single goal conceded betters Inter's record this season.
Mark Ogden argues that Arsenal are top of the Premier League because of the deficiencies of their title rivals, rather than their own quality.
The similarities extends to both sides' flaws as well, with both teams being accused of a somewhat circumspect outlook, with their frontline being criticised for being wasteful as well. Come Tuesday night, given the similarities between both sides, we could witness a game where both teams cancel each other out, which could result in another attritional contest -- much like the last time these two teams met -- which was decided by Çalhanoğlu's penalty.
Arsenal's creativity and set-piece dependance under the spotlight
Two consecutive 0-0 draws in the PL have raised question marks about Arsenal's creativity, with particular focus on their ability to break down teams with a well-drilled mid-to-low block. It's a scenario Arsenal face often in the league, and their strategy so far has been to break open games with set-pieces.
In 11 of Arsenal's 15 wins in the league, they've scored their first goal through a set-piece or from the second phase following a set-piece. In all seven of Arsenal's games where they've dropped points in the Premier League this season, they've failed to score a set-piece goal.
That was the case against both Forest and Liverpool, and could threaten to repeat at the San Siro. Arteta denies this lack of creativity from open play, stating his team had created enough chances to defeat Forest.
"We haven't conceded anything, any single shot again and generated four massive chances with Martinelli with an open goal, with Declan Rice, Merino and then Bukayo Saka's header with an unbelievable save, and on top of that, a very clear penalty as well that has not been given," he said.
Will Arteta rotate?
Arsenal are set to play their fourth consecutive away game in the space of 10 days when they take to the pitch in Milan. An already tight schedule has been compounded by away trips, reducing the time available for Arsenal's players to recover.
It already seems to have come to roost as Arsenal looked incredibly leggy against Forest, with the players lacking sharpness in their final actions. Arteta hasn't helped matters by being a bit conservative with the amount of changes he's made - it's a tricky balancing act, but as the cup competitions proved, Arsenal's second string is one of the best in the world.
For a club still aiming to win all four competitions, there are times however, when the best managers might consider losing a battle to win the war. Arsenal need only a single point to confirm their spot in the UCL last 16, and with a home game against Kairat Almaty to come, this game against Inter could be considered a freebie. There is merit in perhaps letting some of his best players stay back in London - Arsenal's schedule is such that they might end up playing every three days for the rest of the season and a relatively consquence-free game will be rare.
An energy-sapping contest in Milan against one of the best defensive sides in Europe doesn't sound very welcome to tired legs.
Who will partner Lautaro?
In the big games this season, Chivu's frontline pairing is pretty much established. Marcus Thuram joins Lautaro Martínez at the tip of Inter's two-pronged spear, with the players complementing each other fairly well.
The pair have enough of a threat to make Gabriel Magalhães and William Saliba sweat a bit, but Chivu might be missing out on a bit of a trick if he opts to go with Thuram.
Francesco Pio Esposito was brilliant against Udinese over the weekend, as his holdup play and nous ensured he created the most chances in the match, playing a perfect foil for Lautaro to be at his predatory best. With Arteta now pushing both Declan Rice and Martín Zubimendi up the pitch, there are spaces for Esposito to operate in and perhaps get Lautaro isolated against a defender - a situation he usually wins.
Arsenal's left-back issues may stifle Martinelli
Gabriel Martinelli's run of scoring in five consecutive UCL games is a club record, but if Arsenal's left-back situation continues, he's unlikely to extend that any further against Inter.
The UCL generally offers the Brazilian more space in behind to run onto, but that's unlikely to be the case against Inter. With Arteta now forced into using Jurriën Timber as a left-back, Martinelli's situation is further complicated. The Dutch defender inverts into midfield and makes underlapping runs, thus ensuring defenders know that Martinelli will only be able to operate on the touchline like a traditional winger and not cut inside -- where Timber is usually present.
It has also served to ensure Rice's late-breaking runs into the box for a cut-back are negated, because Timber is present in those spaces. Martinelli represents a superb weapon for Arsenal in Europe, where they face more transitional games. Yet, unless Arteta instructs Timber to interpret his left-back role in a more traditional sense, Arsenal's left-side is set to be blunted once more.