Inter Milan will host Liverpool at San Siro in the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday, looking to pile further misery on the Premier League champions.
Inter Milan are coming into this game vs Liverpool on the back of three consecutive victories in all competitions. The Nerazzurri will certainly fancy their chances against a struggling Liverpool team.
The visitors have picked up just one win from their last six matches in all competitions. The Reds are completely lacking in form and confidence. It remains to be seen whether they can bounce back strongly with a positive performance here. This will be a difficult outing for them away from home.
Liverpool have been quite poor defensively, and they need to improve in that area of the pitch. If they want to grind out a positive result here. Inter Milan have been excellent going forward, and they have scored nine goals in their last two matches in all competitions. The Hard Tackle takes a closer look at the encounter ahead of the latest meeting between the two sides.
Team News & Tactics
Inter Milan
Matteo Darmian is sidelined with a calf injury, and Denzel Dumfries is out with ankle issues. Raffaele Di Gennaro has a fracture, while Tomas Palacios misses out through a hamstring injury.
Inter Milan will start in their usual 3-5-2 formation vs Inter Milan, with Yann Sommer in goal. Yann Bisseck will start alongside Manuel Akanji and Alessandro Bastoni in a back three. Carlos Augusto and Federico Dimarco will start as the wing-backs, and they will look to help out at both ends of the pitch.
As for the midfield unit, Hakan Calhanoglu will add creativity to the side alongside Nicolo Barella and Piotr Zielinski in the middle of the park. They will add control and composure. Up front, captain Lautaro Martinez will start alongside Ange-Yoan Bonny.
Probable Lineup (3-5-2): Sommer; Bisseck, Akanji, Bastoni; Augusto, Calhanoglu, Barella, Zielinski, Dimarco; Martinez, Bonny
Liverpool
Arne Slot will be without Giovanni Leoni (knee) and Jeremie Frimpong (hamstring) this weekend. Meanwhile, Mohamed Salah will not feature for the away side after his bombshell interview this past weekend, which has attracted a lot of opinions.
Liverpool are likely to shape up in a 4-3-3 formation vs Inter Milan, with Alisson Becker taking his place in goal. Joe Gomez and Andrew Robertson will start as the full-backs. They will look to help out at both ends of the pitch. Meanwhile, Ibrahima Konate will start alongside Virgil van Dijk at the heart of the defence.
As for the midfield unit, there is no looking past Alexis Mac Allister, Ryan Gravenberch, and Dominik Szoboszlai in the middle of the park. They will look to control the game from the deep and add defensive cover.
Florian Wirtz and Cody Gakpo will start on the flanks here. They will look to add goals and creativity from the wide areas. Finally, Alexander Isak will lead the line for Liverpool vs Inter Milan on Tuesday.
Probable Lineup (4-3-3): Alisson; Gomez, Konate, van Dijk, Robertson; Szoboszlai, Gravenberch, Mac Allister; Wirtz, Isak, Gakpo
Key Stats
- Inter Milan have picked up four wins from their last six matches in all competitions.
- Liverpool have picked up one win from their last six matches in all competitions.
- Six goals have been scored in the last four matches between these two teams.
- Liverpool have picked up three wins from their last four matches against Inter Milan.
- Since scoring five goals from 18 shots and 3.2 expected goals against Eintracht Frankfurt in October, Liverpool have scored just twice from 44 shots and 4.9 xG in their last two UEFA Champions League games. Indeed, they had 27 shots against PSV, their most in a match in the competition since March 2020 against Atlético de Madrid (34), and their most on record (from 2003/04) in a Champions League game in which they failed to score at least two goals.
Player to Watch
Lautaro Martinez
The Inter Milan striker is our key player to watch out for. He will look to cause all sorts of problems for a vulnerable Liverpool defence. The visitors are struggling right now, and they will find it difficult to contain the Argentine international.
The World Cup winner has scored in all five of his UEFA Champions League games at San Siro in 2025 (8 goals). The only player to score in six or more consecutive home appearances in the competition for an Italian club is Andriy Shevchenko for Milan (7 from Mar 2004 to Sep 2005).
He will look to create opportunities for his teammates and find the back of the net as well. Inter Milan will need him to step up and produce a strong performance here if they want to grind out all three points. Martinez has the quality to make a big difference here, and he will look to help his team pick up all three points.
Prediction
Inter Milan 2-1 Liverpool
Liverpool will look to put up a fight here, but they are struggling right now. The home team will certainly fancy the chances of getting the job done. The Reds are in better form, and they will be confident of grinding out a good result in front of their fans.
This is likely to be a close contest, and both teams will get on the score sheet. However, Inter Milan have more confidence and momentum heading into this contest, and they should be able to pick up a narrow victory.
Liverpool are struggling right now, and they have been quite poor at the back. They will struggle against Inter Milan this week. The Hard Tackle predicts a hard-fought 2-1 win for Cristian Chivu and his charges.
