Allegri praises counterpart Chivu ahead of Milan derby

Massimiliano Allegri believes Cristian Chivu has done "an excellent job" at Inter since taking over from Simone Inzaghi.

Inter currently lead the way in Serie A, with the Nerazzurri two points in front of their rivals ahead of the Milan derby on Sunday.

Chivu has won eight of his 11 Serie A games at the helm (L3), with his side scoring 26 goals across those matches and conceding just 12.

Allegri praised Chivu for his early impact at Inter, but feels not a lot has changed since Inzaghi left the club following their 5-0 Champions League final defeat to Paris Saint-Germain.

"In terms of characteristics, they are more or less similar," said Allegri.

"The core of the team is roughly the same. Chivu is doing an excellent job. For a first experience at a big club, he's doing really well.

"You can see the team is a tight and united group. I think there's little difference with Inzaghi. The players are more or less the same."

The Rossoneri are unbeaten in their last 10 games since losing to Cremonese in their first league game of the season, while they also avoided defeat in five games against Inter in the last campaign (W3 D2).

Milan have not recorded a longer unbeaten run against their city rivals since enjoying a 10-match streak between November 2002 and April 2005.

Allegri believes his side are in a good position, but feels Inter are still one of the favourites to win the Scudetto.

"It's going to be a wonderful evening. Inter-Milan is a historic rivalry, and it will be a fantastic game," Allegri added.

"Inter and Napoli are favourites for the Scudetto; they have won 11 of their last 12 games. They have technical and physical players, but the derby is always something apart.

"We'll need to play a solid match and be more focused; this is what we lacked in Parma.

"It will be a high-level match, technically, tactically and physically. We have to be ready also to take a small step forward and extend our unbeaten run."