Arsenal will challenge Inter at the San Siro again after one year

This week, the millionaire Champions League returns to the scene after a short break. Arsenal, not only that he is the only one who hasn't been beaten in this year's league phase, and he is 100%. To make matters worse, the charges Mikel Arteta's with one exception (the Bayern game) they kept a clean sheet in all matches. Considering that the last two rounds of the league phase are left to play, it is not a big surprise that the Gunners are certain to advance to the knockout phase. Inter, despite losing their last two games in the most prestigious club competition in the world, still hold the relegation cards in their hands. The Milanese will need to beat Arsenal to stay among the top eight. Last season, Inter did it by the narrowest of margins in the same competition. Will Arsenal be able to avenge their defeat to their Italian rivals over a year ago or will Inter once again challenge the North London club? We will have to be surprised.

Form

In addition to the classic assessment of the current form today I will also focus on the table position and form of both teams in the Champions League. League matches or domestic cup matches are one thing, but Champions League matches are a completely different and somewhat separate discipline. The magic of the millionaire's competition is that it pits the best clubs in Europe against each other, who, despite all the analysis and statistics, don't know each other that well. With a bit of exaggeration, these matches can be described as battles of two diametrically opposed worlds. Therefore, we can often see performances and results that we would hardly see in domestic competitions. But I digress. Back to form.

Arsenal

I'll start with the Arsenal form. The optics of the last five games is Gunners' record relatively good, but definitely not the best. Specifically, the North London footballers have three wins and two draws. By saying that Arsenal's current form is not the best, I was referring mainly to the last two games in the Premier League. It was in these games that the two draws mentioned above came, first with Liverpool at home, then away to Nottingham. The most worrying thing is that both were goalless draws. Hopefully the Gunners will find the gunpowder again and start scoring goals. Despite two league stumbles, Arsenal, after twenty-two rounds played. increased his lead at the top of the Premier League table to seven points. He can thank Manchester United, who beat their city rivals in the derby, and Everton, who beat Aston Villa.

I have already opened up Arsenal's Champions League position in the very beginning of this blog, so now all that remains is to fill in the blanks. Six games played, six wins, five clean sheets, a 17:1 record and first place in the table. That's exactly how Mikel Arteta's charges are doing in the Champions League so far. Before the start of the competition, few probably imagined that the Emirates Stadium footballers would be like this. If I were to judge only Arsenal's form in Europe, I couldn't describe it as anything other than excellent.

Arsenal's long-term form and general consistency this season has been excellent and admirable at the same time. It is not so glorious with the current form, or results, but on the other hand, with such a crowded programme, it is probably not surprising. It would be naive to think that the Spanish manager's charges will win all the matches they play. Before making any judgements and evaluations, it's vital to take a bit of a broader picture.

Inter

Inter are almost as good as Arsenal in the Italian Serie A as they are in the Premier League. First place and therefore a slightly smaller, namely three-point lead from their biggest rival, with whom they share a stadium. Yes, I mean AC Milan. The record of the last five competitive games? Four wins and one draw. Unlike Arsenal, Inter have played all five of their competitive matches in domestic league competition, but that doesn't change the situation much. In terms of match workload, both upcoming opponents can shake hands.

Inter have made a fantastic start in the Champions League. In their first four matches, the Italian club won four times and kept a clean sheet three times. But then two defeats followed. Inter's first defeat came with a late goal in stoppage time against Atlético Madrid of Spain. The second was taken by Liverpool after a controversial penalty. A great start suddenly turned into a challenging fight for a place among the best eight. As we all know, Inter will first welcome Arsenal at home and then they will travel to Signal Iduna Park, where German side Dortmund play their home games. It is virtually certain that Inter will not be eliminated from the Champions League. However, a direct progression to the next stage or a preliminary round in this challenging period makes all the difference.

To sum up Inter's form, it's very solid.. Both the long-term and the short-term.

Team and expected line-up

How Mikel Arteta will assemble the starting eleven for the game against Inter Milan is a big question. Arsenal are almost certain to qualify directly for the knockout stages of the Champions League, so it would be tempting to cut key players ahead of this weekend's league game against Manchester United. But knowing the Spanish manager, he will want to score at San Siro. All the more so since he fell to Inter in Milan last season. My only hope is that Mikel Arteta and his coaching staff will rotate the lineup while using the matchday roster to its fullest.

Expected line-up

There's nothing to discuss in goal. I'd like to see Myles Lewis-Skelly in the defensive four.. I believe in his commitment from the opening whistle. After his injury. joined the team Cristhian Mosquera, so it would also be appropriate to give one of the stoppers a well-deserved rest. I don't really believe that. The Spaniard has been missing for quite a long time and if he does come into the game, it won't be from the first minute. On the right edge of the defence, Jurriën Timber and Ben White with the Dutch national team starting from the beginning. I also expect changes in the midfield. Mikel Merino and Eberechi Eze will not be in the starting lineup. They will be complemented by Martín Zubimendi, but also quietly on the pitch we may eventually see Declana Rice or Christian Nørgaard. On the wings Bukayo Saka and Leandro Trossard will return to the starting line-up. At the tip of the attack, he should be in front of Viktor Gyökeres start Gabriel Jesus. Or is it time for Kai Havertz? Let's see what the Spanish manager comes up with against Inter.

Absences

Since the roster for Champions League matches may be a bit more extensive for Premier League matches, only injured players should be missing from the Spanish manager's nomination this time. What does this mean in practice? No absences for capacity reasons. So who remains out due to injury? Arsenal should continue to miss Piero Hincapié, Riccardo Calafiori and Max Dowman. Everyone else should be part of the team on Tuesday.

About the opponent

It's been more than a year since I devoted a few lines to Inter when Arsenal played at the San Siro in the Champions League league phase (as they did this year). Since then, not much has changed in the Inter squad from my perspective. However, one major change did occur. Simone Inzaghi has retired from the Milan bench and will be replaced by Simone Inzaghi in the summer of 2025. Cristian Chivu. The former Romanian footballer is no stranger to Inter, on the contrary. Chivu spent seven seasons as a player in the Milanese club and then spent several years as a coach in various youth categories. He won his first senior managerial engagement at the beginning of 2025 at Parma in Italy, from where, after the team's successful rescue in the very summer of that year moved to the Inter bench, where he has been ever since..

Inter's squad is still full of big football names. In goal, the Swiss veteran is still the clear leader Yann Sommer, It is difficult to pick the biggest stars from the defensive line, because the defensive line is one of the strongest points of the Italian team. Nevertheless, I will mention a few players. Denzel Dumfries, who is currently out of the game, Federico Dimarco or maybe Alessandro Bastoni. Of course, I could go on and on, but I would have to list almost the entire roster of Inter defenders. Of the midfielders, they are the biggest pillars of the team. Nicolo Barella and Hakan Calhanoglu, who, like Dumfries, is injured. Don't worry, I haven't forgotten. The former Arsenal player is still with the Italian giant Henrik Mkhitaryan, who, despite his great age, is still one of the busiest players at Inter. In attack, he has long stood out Lautaro Martínez, who is seconded by Marcus Thuram. An interesting summer reinforcement became Luis Henrique from Marseille, which so far remains somewhat below expectations.

In a nutshell, Inter is a team with a very good squad with a lot of experience.

Match

To be honest, I think Inter's match with Arsenal will be a tactical battle especially in the opening minutes of the game. I know I wrote something similar last time I wrote about the Arsenal v Aston Villa game and we all know how that turned out. Anyway, I'll try again this time. Arsenal practically don't play for anything of substance in the league phase of the Champions League anymore, which can be an advantage in a way. On the other hand, the Inter players will be under some pressure, because their draw for the last two rounds of the Champions League is not easy. They are not facing relegation with almost 100% certainty, but they will surely aim for a place among the top eight teams. On the other hand, Inter will play at home, in front of a sold-out San Siro crowd of 80,000. Moreover, the players from the blue part of Milan already proved last season that they can beat Arsenal. The quality and current form of the two teams is comparable, so logic follows, that it should be a very even match.

Taking into account the last results of both teams and, in fact, Inter's last meeting with Arsenal I dare say the crowd in Milan won't see many goals. The most likely outcome seems to me to be a division of points. But what kind of fan would I be if I didn't believe in my team. I predict Arsenal to win 1:0.

Next match

In the next game, the Gunners will finally be staged at the Emirates Stadium. And that we have a lot to look forward to. For round twenty-three will see the north London Manchester United, who managed to beat Manchester City in the last round. The match is scheduled for Sunday 25 January 2026 from 17:30 (CET).

See you next time, I'll look forward to it!

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