AC Milan will look to close in on the top spot in Serie A with a win over Juventus in Serie A at San Siro on Saturday evening.
AC Milan are currently fifth in the Serie A table, three points adrift of league leaders Napoli. They will hope to defend their league crown season, and Stefano Pioli’s men will have to improve in order to grind out all three points against Juventus.
Milan come into this game on the back of a humiliating 3-0 defeat against Chelsea in the UEFA Champions League. And Pioli will demand a strong reaction from his players. It will be interesting to see whether the home side can step up their performance levels and grind out the all-important victory against Juventus.
Meanwhile, Juventus are currently seventh in the Serie A table, and they seem to have picked up some form following a poor start to the campaign. After failing to win four consecutive matches across all competitions, the Bianconeri have won two consecutive games. So they will be reasonably confident heading into this game.
Juventus will have seen AC Milan’s inconsistencies in the last few outings. And the visitors will be looking to make the most of the opportunity and pile further misery on the hosts.
Team News & Tactics
AC Milan
Attention turns to #MilanJuve 👊#SempreMilan
Brought to you by @play_eFootball pic.twitter.com/b1KiVbZPFB— AC Milan (@acmilan) October 6, 2022
Serfano Pioli has a number of injury problems heading into this contest against Juventus. AC Milan will be without key players like Mike Maignan, Simon Kjaer, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Junior Messias and Alexis Saelemaekers. In terms of tactics, Pioli is likely to stick with his tried and tested 4-2-3-1 setup.
In the absence of Maignan, Ciprian Tatarusanu is expected to start in goal. Summer signing Sergino Dest is set to continue as the right-back, and Theo Hernandez will operate as the left-back. At the heart of the AC Milan defence, Fikayo Tomori is expected to partner Pierre Kalulu in the absence of Kjaer.
Ismael Bennacer and Sandro Tonali will be deployed at the base of the midfield, and the duo will be expected to break up the play and win the ball back for Milan.
Rade Krunic is expected to come into the starting lineup in the absence of Saelemaekers, and Rafael Leao will continue in his preferred left-wing position. Belgian attacking midfielder Charles De Ketelaere is set to operate in the hole behind striker Olivier Giroud.
Probable Lineup (4-2-3-1): Tatarusanu; Dest, Kalulu, Tomori, Hernandez; Bennacer, Tonali; Krunic, De Ketelaere, Leao; Giroud
Juventus
Juventus will be without some of their key players against AC Milan as well. Massimiliano Allegri will be without summer signing Angel Di Maria and Paul Pogba. While the Argentine is suspended for violent conduct, Pogba is still recovering from an injury. Star winger Federico Chiesa and defender Mattia de Sciglio are sidelined as well.
The Turin giants are likely to field a 3-5-2 set-up with a back three of Gleison Bremer, Leonardo Bonucci and Danilo. Polish international goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny will continue in goal.
🎙Allegri: "It will be a beautiful match and we have to bring a good result back at home. They are good, Leao can change the course of the game by himself. When San Siro is full it pushes the team a lot, so we will have to play at a high level of performance."#MilanJuve
— JuventusFC (@juventusfcen) October 7, 2022
Juan Cuadrado and Filip Kostic are likely to be deployed as the wing-backs, and they will be tasked with providing width to the side in an attacking sense as well as their defensive responsibilities.
In the middle of the park, Leandro Paredes will be partnered by Adrien Rabiot and Manuel Locatelli. While Paredes is expected to sit back and break up the play, Locatelli will be expected to bomb forward and support the attackers.
Star striker Dusan Vlahovic is likely to partner Arkadiusz Milik in the front two. The duo will look to cause all sorts of problems for the AC Milan backline which has struggled in the last few outings.
Probable Lineup (3-5-2): Szczesny; Bremer, Bonucci, Danilo; Cuadrado, Locatelli, Paredes, Rabiot, Kostic; Vlahovic, Milik
Key Stats
- AC Milan are undefeated in 23 of their last 24 matches in Serie A.
- Juventus have failed to win their last five away matches in Serie A.
- AC Milan are undefeated in five of the last six matches against Juventus.
- Juventus have failed to score in three of the last six meetings against AC Milan.
- AC Milan have conceded at least one goal in each of the last six matches across all competitions.
Player to Watch
Rafael Leao
The 23-year-old has been in impressive form this season, and he is our player to watch against Juventus. The AC Milan talisman has scored four goals and picked up seven assists in his last ten matches across all competitions. And he will be looking to punish the Juventus defence and get his side back to winning ways.
Leao is likely to stretch the Juventus defence with his pace and movement. It will be interesting to see if he can link up with Olivier Giroud and create ample chances for Milan.
Prediction
AC Milan 1-1 Juventus
Neither AC Milan nor Juventus are in particularly good form right now, although the visitors head into this game on the back of two consecutive wins. Milan, on the other hand, will be fired up after the disappointing displays in the recent outings.
It will not be surprising if AC Milan and Juventus cancel each other out. The last two matches between these two teams have ended in a draw, and this one is likely to end in a stalemate as well. The Hard Tackle predicts AC Milan and Juventus to score once each this Saturday.
True, the team with the most appetite to score will achieve a victory