Inter-Milan a ‘Debutante ball’ with many potential derby debuts

The upcoming derby between Inter and AC Milan on Saturday evening has been described as the ‘debutante ball’ given the amount of players who will taste the fixture for the first time.

Tuttosport (via PianetaMilan) write how Inter and Milan will face each other after two summer revolutions which have changed the squads available to Simone Inzaghi and Stefano Pioli compared to last season.

The Nerazzurri have purchased 11 new players, the Rossoneri 10. However, in the case of Inter, there have been two returns as Marko Arnautovic came back after thirteen years, Alexis Sánchez after just one season.

In total there will be five debutants in the Derby della Madonnina from the first minute, with Yann Sommer and Marcus Thuram part of the list for the blue half of the city, then Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Tijjani Reijnders and Christian Pulisic for their opponents.

In the first three games they were the new signings that started, with Inzaghi and Pioli preferring to remain loyal to the XIs that have brought three wins from three.

Luka Jović and Noah Okafor are also on alert in the Rossoneri ranks should Olivier Giroud fail to recover in time from his left ankle sprain.

After the derby, Inzaghi and Pioli will inevitably start rotating because the Champions League will begin. Benjamin Pavard, Carlos Augusto and Davide Frattesi can step in for Inter while Yunus Musah, Samuel Chukwueze, Jovic and Okafor could get playing time for Milan.

Sommer experienced the Zurich derbies when he played with Grasshoppers and Thuam knows the Rhineland derbies between his Borussia Mönchengladbach and FC Köln.

For Reijnders the fiercest opponents at AZ Alkmaar were Ajax, then Loftus-Cheek and Pulisic know all about London derbies from their times at Chelsea (plus Crystal Palace and Fulham for the former).