<figure id="attachment_3215285" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3215285" style="width: 1600px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-3215285" src="https://media.freemalaysiatoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/80bbf544-inter-milan-1.jpg" alt="Inter Milan" width="1600" height="1000" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-3215285" class="wp-caption-text">Inter Milan, led by forward Lautaro Martínez, have won 11 of their past 12 matches and positioned themselves as Serie A frontrunners. (EPA Images pic)</figcaption></figure>
MILAN: Milan takes centre stage on Sunday night as the city&#8217;s two football giants face off at the San Siro with top spot in Serie A up for grabs, while troubled Napoli try to reset after the international break.
Inter Milan lead the pack, on goal difference from Roma, as Italy&#8217;s top flight returns to the iconic arena after it hosted the national team&#8217;s bracing defeat to Norway last weekend.
Cristian Chivu&#8217;s team are two points ahead of AC Milan, who sit behind Roma in third place and ahead of the weekend&#8217;s headline clash.
Inter have won 11 of their last 12 matches in all competitions, their one defeat in that run coming at Napoli last month, and have established themselves as favourites for the Scudetto.
After the derby Inter travel to Atletico Madrid where they can put one foot in the last 16 after winning all four of their previous European matches.
Marcus Thuram could make his first start for Inter since September after fully recovering from a hamstring injury which caused him to miss out on France&#8217;s World Cup qualifiers last week and in October.
But Denzel Dumfries is likely to miss the derby with an ankle injury, meaning Carlos Augusto will switch from the left flank to provide width.
Milan meanwhile have Adrien Rabiot back from his calf injury picked up on international duty with France last month, with coach Massimiliano Allegri hoping both he and midfield partner Luka Modric will play their first Milan derby.
Champions Napoli are level on 22 points with Milan, but even though they are firmly in the title battle all is not well in Naples, with Antonio Conte being given a few days away to cool off during the international break.
Conte exploded with anger after Napoli&#8217;s 2-0 defeat at fifth-placed Bologna, who are only three points from the summit ahead of their trip to Udinese on Saturday.
The 56-year-old said that he wasn&#8217;t prepared to &#8220;accompany the dead&#8221;, a reference to a team he said lacked heart and one that sparked rumours of him resigning before Saturday night&#8217;s visit of Atalanta.
Conte will be without key midfielder Andre-Frank Anguissa who suffered a hamstring injury with Cameroon, a knock which will keep him out until next year and infuriated Napoli owner Aurelio De Laurentiis, who demanded compensation to clubs who lose players to injury while they are away with their countries.
Also on Saturday, Luciano Spalletti recommences his bid to revive Juventus at rock-bottom Fiorentina, where the 66-year-old played at youth level in the 1970s.
Spalletti was born near Florence and Began his long managerial career up the road at Empoli over 30 years ago, and he returns to Tuscany with Fiorentina bottom of the division and desperate to turn their season around under new coach Paolo Vanoli.

MatchPoint Times

Inter and Milan in early Scudetto clash as Napoli attempt to bounce back

The city’s two rivals face off at San Siro with Serie A’s top spot up for grabs as teams return after the international break.

Livestream giant Twitch to ban under-16s in Australia

41,000 remaja hamil bawah umur bukti ‘sistem gagal’, kata aktivis