Derby della Madonnina today. Let's do a brief overview of Milan since most of you guys probably know a lot about Conte and Inter already -

Milan have completely transformed themselves into a young team with some really vibrant young talent. The strong structure inside the club of Ivan Gazidis as the chief executive and Paolo Maldini as Sporting director has laid the foundation for a new era of AC Milan.

Stefano Pioli likes to set Milan up mostly in a 4-2-3-1 like the picture below (ignore Sofascore ratings). A few changes they usually make are playing Saelemaekers for Castillejo or playing Rebic upfront instead of Zlatan while Brahim Diaz takes the inside left position.

However, Zlatan is absolutely crucial to this setup. Milan have 2 very strong CBs in Kjaer and Romagnoli/Gabbia but both of them are not exceptional with the ball. That gives Milan 2 options - first, use Theo Hernandez as the primary progressor if the opposition sits deep.

Theo is a brilliant dribbler and has completed around 2 dribbles per game this season. His energy, passing and shooting abilities are there to see with him making 1.7 key passes p90 and already getting 1G and 1A in just 3 Seria A games this season.

However when Milan are pressed, they do not shy away from going long and that's when Zlatan's role comes into the play. Zlatan positions himself not alongside the CBs but in between the lines to receive the ball and lay it off. Now if we take a closer look at the Milan front 4...

...we can see an inside forward in Rebic/Diaz and a traditional winger in Castillejo/Saelemakers with a number 10 Calhanoglu who isn't a prolific creative presence but has got a magical right foot. When Zlatan receives a long ball in between the lines, the other 3 look to....

...attack the box and take shots. This is specially shown by Calhanoglu's 3.3 shots p90 and Zlatan's incredible 7 shots p90. The aerial threats of Zlatan and Rebic is also exploited by Theo and Saelemaekers with both of them completing 1 cross p90. Calabria is more reserved...

...as width on the right is provided by the winger there. The midfield of Milan is also something to look into. Milan have mostly started with a pivot of Kessie and Bennacer in the Seria A with Tonali only getting his debut in the last game vs Spezia. Kessie is a robust B2B....

... midfielder who loves joining in the attack while Bennacer, a graduate of Arsenal plays a deep lying role. Bennacer becomes a passing outlet against teams that sit deep when he receives the ball in the second phase of play and looks to find passes in between the lines.

Tonali's addition makes the team selection interesting since he's well adept to play the holding midfield role alongside Kessie or be a more attacking presence alongside Bennacer. We have to see what specific role he plays because he hasn't played much since joining Milan.

What is Milan's weakness? As I've mentioned Milan have strong CBs but they aren't particularly quick so Pioli asks them to sit deep and not play a high line. That means whenever Milan midfielders push forward, the space between Milan's defence and midfield is quite big.

The lack of pace at the back also means they are sometimes vulnerable to transitions. That might be something Conte could exploit by opting for a 3-4-1-2 formation or a 3-5-2 with one of the forwards operating in between the lines to exploit the space Milan leave. Inter are....

..exceptional in transition too like all teams coached by Conte and it will be interesting to see how Milan cope with these problems. All in all, this is easily the most historical of Seria A fixtures as you can get with 2 teams in sensational form which makes it a great watch.

Oh I forgot to add, Milan acquired Dalot on loan and he's apparently a part of United's long term plan so will be interesting to see how he works out. Will give a more attacking presence than Calabria on the right side. Also their new signing Jens Peter Hauge looks like a catch

@spicyturtle21 @mezzala8 thoughts?