It’s the Derby della Madonnina as Mario Balotelli, Stephan El Shaarawy and Kevin-Prince Boateng face Rodrigo Palacio, Antonio Cassano and Andrea
It’s the Derby della Madonnina as Mario Balotelli, Stephan El Shaarawy and Kevin-Prince Boateng face Rodrigo Palacio, Antonio Cassano and Andrea Ranocchia.
San Siro will be packed out for the kick-off at 19.45 GMT, click here for the match preview.
The snow has been falling heavily on Milan for the last few days, but the covers have been over the pitch and staff working to clear the stands.
There are numerous layers to this clash, as it is about city bragging rights, a head-to-head battle for third place and sees players like Balotelli, Cassano, Sulley Muntari and Giampaolo Pazzini face their past.
Max Allegri is brimming with confidence following Wednesday’s 2-0 Champions League win over Barcelona.
The Rossoneri are also on a run of six consecutive Serie A home victories and are still unbeaten in 2013.
Robinho, Mathieu Flamini, Daniele Bonera and Nigel De Jong are injured, but Antonio Nocerino returns to the side.
Balotelli has fresh legs, as he is cup-tied and could not play against Barcelona, partnering fellow Mohican haircut enthusiasts El Shaarawy and Boateng, leaving M’Baye Niang on the bench.
Inter, on the other hand, were demolished 4-1 by Fiorentina last week and pushed past Cluj 3-0 in the Europa League on Thursday evening.
Alvaro Pereira sits out a ban, joining the injured Diego Milito, Matias Silvestre, Walter Samuel, Gaby Mudingayi, Joel Obi and Luca Castellazzi.
Ranocchia had been ruled out after spraining his knee against Cluj on Thursday, but passed a late fitness test and is surprisingly thrown straight into the starting XI.
Ricky Alvarez is also a surprise pick in the 4-3-1-2 system.
Inter: Handanovic; Zanetti, Juan Jesus, Ranocchia, Nagatomo; Gargano, Cambiasso, Alvarez; Guarin; Cassano, Palacio
Inter bench: Belec, Carrizo, Mbaye, Jonathan, Chivu, Stankovic, Kovacic, Schelotto, Pasa, Benassi, Kuzmanovic, Rocchi
Milan: Abbiati; Abate, Zapata, Mexes, De Sciglio; Muntari, Montolivo, Nocerino; Boateng, Balotelli, El Shaarawy
Milan bench: Gabriel, Amelia, Salamon, Zaccardo, Yepes, Ambrosini, Antonini, Bojan, Niang Traoré, Pazzini