Preview: AC Milan vs. Juventus – prediction, team news, lineups

A fight between two of the Series A heavyweight title contenders sees champions AC Milan Welcome juventus to San Siro on Saturday night.

Having experienced very different fates in Europe this week, the teams meet in Italy’s second city separated by four points and two places in the standings, with the hosts currently in the lead.

match preview

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After winning six consecutive Serie A home games, with several of them en route to securing last season’s Scudetto, Milan lost their last league game at the San Siro to Napoli, and after recovering late to win at Empoli last week, he was defeated. in the champions league.

With a comfortable 3-0 loss at Stamford Bridge, the Rossoneri’s clash with Group E rivals Chelsea certainly didn’t go as planned, although a long list of absent players mitigated how they collapsed.

While they hold up well in the mix for progression to the round of 16 from a particularly open group, before receiving graham potterThe team from next week’s return will have to stay in the queue of the four sides above them at the national level.

Under stefano pioliMilan have never lost consecutive home games in Serie A, so they will be looking to shake off their European setback quickly and defeat one of their main rivals for Calcio supremacy.

Losing to Juventus by 15 Scudetti in all-time records, the Rossoneri drew both of their games against the Turin club last season on their way to their 19th Italian title, and their first in over a decade.

In a sign of the changing times, Milan have now avoided defeat in four of their last five league meetings with Juve, having lost 13 of the previous 14. Pioli now aims to continue that trend, as his team looks to pull out a seven-point lead. visitors

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While Milan were forced to find two stoppage-time goals to complete a 3-1 win last week, Juventus overcame the cloud of uncertainty that hung over them to record an outright win at home to Bologna. .

Returning from the international break with speculation about max alegriWith the position still on a roll, the Bianconeri put on a more promising performance, with two goals in three second-half minutes sealing a 3-0 win.

A scorer on Sunday, Dusan Vlahovic returned another goal midweek as Juve were inspired by the comeback Angel Di Maria – who recorded a hat-trick of assists and would have had two more had it not been for Vlahovic’s wayward strike – to beat energetic Maccabi Haifa in the Champions League.

After a slow start in continental competition, Allegri’s men still trail Group H’s leading pair Paris Saint-Germain and Benfica by four points, so they still have a lot of work to do if they are to reach the round of 16.

Prior to their return to domestic duty, Juventus may have won six of their last nine meetings with Milan at the San Siro, but they have clearly fallen behind their Rossoneri rivals in the pecking order of late.

Among several reasons for their continued decline since Allegri’s return has been below par away from home. In fact, his side have picked up just two points from three Serie A away games this season; only once in the last 40 years have Juve failed to win any of their first four away games.

Form of AC Milan Serie A:

AC Milan form (all competitions):

Juventus Serie A form:

Juventus form (all competitions):

team news

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After highly criticized performances against Chelsea, summer recruits Charles De Ketelaere Y fate sergin could leave Milan’s line-up on Saturday as Stefano Pioli makes changes for a clash with the club he represented 35 times as a player.

His options remain restricted by a long injury list, but he flies sideways Theo Hernandez could return to add push to the hosts’ left flank; goalie mike maignan Unions Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Original Divock, messiah junior Y Alexander Florenzi albeit on the sidelines again.

In the meantime, Alexis Saelemaeker (knee), Simon Kjaer (thigh) and david of calabria (hamstring) was injured in the win over Empoli and is also unavailable.

talisman of attack raphael leo he remains ready to serve and has been involved in the most Serie A goals of any player in 2022: 11 of his own and 11 assists. The Portuguese extreme could be accompanied by Ante Rebicthat he has scored four goals against Juventus since joining the Rossoneri; no other player has scored more against them since 2019.

Rebic is averaging a goal every 49 minutes on average this season, while Juve Arkadiusz Milik he scores at a rate of one in 78. The latter could return from a blow that left him confined to the bench in midweek, pairing up with Dusan Vlahovic, who is yet to score at the San Siro.

Max Allegri welcomed Angel Di Maria against Maccabi Haifa after a domestic suspension kept him out of victory over Bologna, and the visitors’ coach will once again turn to the playmaker in his bid to get the best out of his old club.

long-term absentees Paul Pogba Y Federico Chiesa remain out of commission, but the latter recently returned to training and should appear before the end of the month. What mattia de sciglio is ruled out due to a thigh injury suffered on Wednesday, alex sandro can re-enter the first XI.

Possible AC Milan starting line-up:
Tatarusanu; Dest, Kalulu, Tomori, Hernandez; Tonali, Bennacer; Krunic, Diaz, Leao; Giorud

Possible Juventus starting line-up:
Szczesny; Danilo, Bonucci, Bremer; Square, Locatelli, Rabiot, Kostic; Di Maria, Vlahovic, Milik

We say: AC Milan 1-1 Juventus

Milan and Juventus are two of the three teams to have lost the fewest Serie A games in 2022, failing to split in any of their encounters last year.

Only twice before have they drawn three times in a row, but that result could be on the cards as the champions are still weakened by numerous injuries.

For data analysis of the most probable results, scores and more for this match, click here.

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