AC Milan – Inter Milan. Mark O’Haire’s prediction (VIDEO)

Запустить видео

Goals are likely to be in short supply when misfiring neighbours AC Milan and Inter Milan clash in the 164^th Derby della Madonnina at San Siro on Sunday.

AC Milan coach Sinisa Mihajlovic and Inter counterpart Roberto Mancini have blamed erratic finishing for their troubles as the two giants once again find themselves off the Serie A pace.

Once the highlight of the Serie A season, the fixture has become a sideshow to the title race in recent seasons as both teams’ fortunes have slumped. Inter, leaders earlier in the season, have dropped to joint third alongside Fiorentina (41 points) and are six points behind leaders Napoli, while AC Milan are a further eight points behind in sixth.

Inter have managed a paltry 26 goals in their 21 outings and AC Milan 29, compared to 45 for Napoli where Gonzalo Higuain alone has netted 21.

Mancini’s frustration boiled over after his side were held 1-1 at home to relegation-threatened Carpi last Sunday. Mancini said that, even at the age of 50, he was sure he would have done better than Icardi with one of the chances the Argentine missed.

Meanwhile, AC Milan have been hampered by injuries to forward Jeremy Menez, who has not played all season, and Mario Balotelli, who has been out for three months with a groin problem. Balotelli scored in the dreadful 1-0 Coppa Italia win over third tier Alessandria on Tuesday but Mihajlovic said he was not ready for the derby.

The Rossoneri have claimed just one derby triumph in their last nine against Inter (W1-D3-L5) but with just a solitary defeat in eight Serie A outings (W3-D4-L1), the red side of the city should be able to avoid defeat.

AC Milan will know three points would put them back to within striking distance of Inter but it’s hard to find any faith in a team that’s leaked more goals than any of their top-seven rivals. So instead, another low-scoring derby looks to be on the cards. Neither side has scored more than once in any of the last seven head-to-heads with fewer than three goals being scored in 12/20 of the duos respective home/away league outings in 2015/16.

AC Milan have seen Under 2.5 Goals backers collect in eight of their last 11 when welcoming top-six teams as well as three of their previous four fixtures. Their attack is nowhere near as strong as in recent years and a stalemate looks to be on the cards at the San Siro with Inter opting for a cagey, defensive approach.

Under 2.5 Goals is 1.73 and that seems more than fair for a much-anticipated encounter that might fail to inspire the neutral supporter like in times gone by.