Serie A champions AC Milan return to domestic action with a potentially tricky away trip to relegation-threatened Hellas Verona at the Stadio Marc’Antonio Bentegodi.
A frustrating midweek 2-0 defeat at the hands of Chelsea leaves Milan struggling to qualify for the Champions League’s round of 16 for the second season running, however, domestically, the defending Italian champions remain a dominant force, winning 4 of their last 5.
Even though they are currently in fifth place in the Serie A standings, AC Milan are only three points behind Napoli, who are currently leading the league in what is a very tight and competitive top six right now. Milan would have been sitting pretty in first place yet again if Napoli hadn’t crushed them at the San Siro.
9 yellow cards and 1 red in that AC Milan vs Chelsea game. I don’t want to see Daniel Siebert officiating a UCL game again pic.twitter.com/I4wj3u0JxP
— Has the Referee or VAR made a poor decision? (@PoorEPLreferees) October 11, 2022
Stefano Pioli’s side will be looking to bounce back from their European disappointment by returning to winning ways here. Even though Verona’s recent run of results has been dismal, they are rarely an easy opponent, so an exciting matchup looks to be on the cards in the north of Italy on Sunday.
Losing their last four league games in a row, and winning just one of their last nine, Verona finds themselves languishing in the relegation zone with just 5 points after nine matchdays. Indeed, Gabrielle Cioffi’s disastrous spell as Verona coach came to an end, and the club wasted no time in handing 35-year-old coach Salvatore Bocchetti his first senior managerial role.
Bocchetti, who served as Igor Tudor’s assistant at Verona last term, faces an uphill battle to keep the unconvincing Verona team in the top flight and could hardly have picked a more challenging way to start his tenure, as they welcome Serie A champions Milan to the Stadio Marcantonio Bentegodi. The Hard Tackle looks at how both sides could line up on the night and what tactics they might employ.
Team News & Tactics
Hellas Verona
Defensive woes were the story of Cioffi’s tenure at Verona and eventually resulted in his sacking. The former Udinese boss failed to manage a single clean sheet in 10 matches across all boards, while their tally of 17 goals conceded is lower than all but that of newly-promoted Cremonese (19) in the division this season, and they have shipped two goals in each of their last four matches.
Things aren’t any better in the attacking department; the decision to let go of their best goal-scorer and creator, Giovanni Simeone, and Antonin Barak, in the same summer transfer window is coming back to haunt them. The hosts have lost the expected goals (xG) contest in seven of their nine league games this term.
It’s safe to say they are all over the shop and are sleepwalking towards relegation unless things start to change for the better. It will be interesting to see how Bocchetti will set his team up over the coming months, but there are unlikely to be major tactical changes here, and he may be prepared to stick with the same side that lost out 2-1 to Salernitana.
Ivan Ilic, Darko Lazovic, Pawel Dawidevic, and Diego Coppola are all expected to miss out for the hosts due to respective injury problems. Lorenzo Montipo is a certain starter between the sticks, with the hosts lining up in their usual 3-4-3/3-4-2-1 formation in front of him.
Guarding the Italian goalkeeper will be a three-man defensive unit of Isak Hien, Koray Günter, and Juan Cabal, flanked by wing-backs Marco Faraoni and Scottish youngster Josh Doig. The latter is the team’s joint top-scorer with two goals and also has an assist to his name, so he will be given license to surge forwards and get off shots at every given opportunity.
In the absence of Ivan Ilic, Miguel Veloso will partner with Adrien Tameze in the engine room. The duo are likely to stay back to provide a more defensive presence and form a stubborn back five against AC Milan.
Ajdin Hrustic, a summer signing from Eintracht Frankfurt’s Europa League winning side last term, has yet to prove his credentials as an attacking midfielder. The same goes for Simone Verdi, who has made only 3 Serie A outings as of yet. Thomas Henry, who is the club’s top-scorer with two goals, will get the responsibility of leading the line for Verona up top.
Probable Lineup (3-4-2-1): Montipo; Hien, Gunter, Cabal; Faraoni, Tameze, Veloso, Doig; Hrustic, Verdi; Henry
AC Milan
Similar to their opponents, Verona, Milan are currently battling a wave of injuries that have depleted their depth. Stefano Pioli’s side faced Chelsea in a demanding midweek matchup and Fikayo Tomori controversially received marching orders. However, they are now focused on the match in Verona and aim to rebound in style against Verona.
Catching up with @TheoHernandez ahead of our trip to Verona 🎙️
“#VeronaMilan, siamo pronti”: le parole di Theo ⤵️#SempreMilan pic.twitter.com/7nP6SE2J0r
— AC Milan (@acmilan) October 15, 2022
Pioli will set Milan up in his preferred 4-3-3 formation and is not expected to make any changes to the team that lost to Chelsea in midweek for Sunday’s trip to face Hellas Verona. Ciprian Tatarusanu will be in between the sticks for the visitors to cover for the injured Mike Maignan.
Matteo Gabbia has been thrown into the deep end at centre-back in recent games due to injury issues in the department but has risen to the challenge by turning in two solid performances. He will get another chance to impress here alongside Fikayo Tomori. Pierre Kalulu will get the nod at right-back ahead of Sergino Dest, whereas Theo Hernandez will retain his spot on the left.
Ismael Bennacer and Sandro Tonali should form the standard double pivot in the midfield, with the latter likely to play much closer to the frontline in playmaking duties.
Leading the attack for Milan should be Olivier Giroud, who is the club’s top-scorer with five goals this season. The attacking midfield trio of Rade Krunic, Brahim Diaz, and Rafael Leao will operate behind the Frenchman and will be key to creating meaningful chances.
The Rossoneri should have plenty of firepower on the bench with the likes of Junior Messias, Charles de Ketelaere, and Ante Rebic to call upon should things not go their way initially.
Probable Lineup (4-3-3): Tatarusanu; Kalulu, Tomori, Gabbia, Hernandez; Tonali, Bennacer; Krunic, Diaz, Leao; Giroud
Key Stats
- AC Milan are undefeated in their last 16 away Serie A matches.
- Verona have lost their last 4 Serie A matches on the bounce.
- AC Milan have won five of their last seven Serie A matches against Hellas Verona (D2), including each of their last three away games.
- AC Milan are the only unbeaten team away from home in Serie A since the start of the year (P13 W9 D4).
- The Rossoneri are one of just three ever-present sides still undefeated on the road in the big-five European leagues during this calendar year (along with Barcelona and Manchester City).
Player to Watch
Rafael Leao
Leao and Giroud are joint-top scorers for AC Milan in Serie A this season with four goals each. The 23-year-old Portugal international failed to live up to the hype in the two Champions League games against his suitors, Chelsea, firing a blank in both. He also failed to score in AC Milan’s recent league match against Juventus and has only scored once in his last seven games. So, expect him to be chomping at the bit to snap his goal-scoring slump in this game.
Prediction
Hellas Verona 0-2 AC Milan
It may be time for Verona to start looking over their shoulders again after three pretty solid mid-table seasons in the Italian top-flight, as the Rossoneri’s long-standing ability to turn over beleaguered teams is set to continue in Sunday’s kickoff.
Barring a few lacklustre performances, the visitors are specialists at patiently passing their way through the defences of lower-ranked sides, and the lethal duo of Rafael Leao and Olivier Giroud are firing on all cylinders, at least in Serie A.
In light of Verona’s terrible form and the current state of instability at the club, with a rookie manager in charge of a relegation battle, it seems a no-brainer to back Milan to win Sunday’s game and make it three straight away league victories. Verona have conceded exactly 2 goals in each of their last 4 league defeats, and the Hard Tackle predicts them to produce the same result here, with a comfortable 2-0 victory in favour of the visitors.
