The legendary San Siro stadium is set to be the venue for a thrilling clash on matchday four of the UEFA Champions League, featuring Inter Milan and Arsenal, who both aim to preserve their unbeaten streaks in this tournament (W2, D1). Remarkably, neither team has allowed a goal in their first three matches. Despite this, Inter has faced a daunting 53 shots, prompting manager Simone Inzaghi to urge his squad to “be more clinical” in attack.
This call to action follows a rather lacklustre 1-0 win over Venezia on Sunday night, which nevertheless extended Inter’s undefeated streak to eight matches across all competitions (W7, D1). On home turf, they show no signs of slowing down, having secured victory in ten of their last 14 UCL home games (D2, L2), and they also hold an impressive record against English teams at home (W11, D3, L3).
This spells trouble for an Arsenal team struggling with away performances recently, with only one victory in their last five away fixtures, that win coming against second-tier Preston (D2, L2).
A disappointing sequence of three Premier League matches without a victory (D1, L2) has caused the Gunners to slip out of the top four, prompting Mikel Arteta to look towards the UCL as a means to rebuild his squad’s morale.
Arsenal have already secured a favourable outcome in Italy this season by drawing with Atalanta on matchday one, which contributes to their solid track record against Serie A teams (W6, D1, L1). Nevertheless, Arsenal have faced significant challenges in scoring during their recent UCL visits to Italy, failing to find the net in their last four games there (D1, L3). The last player to score for them in this competition on Italian soil was Emmanuel Adebayor back in March 2008.
Key matchup: Having missed Inter’s first two UCL fixtures this season, Federico Dimarco assisted in their late victory against Young Boys on matchday three and did so again versus Venezia on Sunday. Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka will endeavour to manage the dynamic wing-back, with his impressive record of nine direct goal contributions in 11 UCL outings indicating he’ll present a challenge for Dimarco (G5, A4).
Interesting statistic: In the only two previous encounters between these teams, the visiting team emerged victorious each time with a winning margin of three or more goals.
