Serie A PREVIEW | Milan v Juventus

Milan will aim to reclaim the top spot in the league standings when they face a rejuvenated Juventus side tonight at the San Siro.

Inter’s 3-0 win against Torino last night meant that their neighbourhood rivals Milan must have to grab the three points from Juventus tonight in order to reinstate themselves as league leaders. It is always a challenge for bigger teams when club football returns following the international break and both teams involved today will be aiming to be up for the contest. 

After suffering a humiliating defeat in the Milan derby, the Rossoneri are unbeaten in six consecutive matches across all competitions. All of their Serie A fixture since the drubbing resulted in wins but their Champions League matchdays with Borussia Dortmund and Newcastle United ended in draws. 

Stefano Pioli’s men have already recorded victories against Roma and Lazio who are having a rather tough season but failed to convert their chances against the Nerazzurri. It will be exciting to see how they fair against tonight’s opponents.

Meanwhile, Juventus approach this match on the back of a 2-0 victory against Torino as they continued their dominance in the Turin derby. Federico Gatti and Arkadiusz Milik were the scorers that day as attackers Federico Chiesa and Dusan Vlahovic couldn’t feature. 

The Old Lady are five points adrift of league leaders Inter and four points from Milan. The shocking defeat to Sassuolo and an unconvincing draw with Atalanta dampened their momentum to push more vigorously at the top of the pile. However, they still remain as top-four favourites and with a few positive results, Massimiliano Allegri will be looking to take a shot at the Scudetto.

The Bianconeri have the joint second-best defence in the league, conceding only six goals and they will hope to bank on that when they take on Milan tonight. 

Results from their last five matches across all competitions

Milan:

W D W W W

Juventus:

W D W L W

Team News

Antonio Mirante will be featuring on goal today as Mike Maignan must serve a suspension. Marco Sportiello is out injured. 

Theo Hernandez will also serve a ban while Ruben Loftus-Cheek is expected to sit this one out. 

Pierre Kalulu has recovered from his injury but is yet to be passed fit. 

As for Juventus, the likes of Federico Chiesa and Dusan Vlahovic will return to the starting line-up.

Nicolo Fagioli’s involvement in the betting scandal and the resultant suspension will make way for Fabio Miretti to shine on the pitch.

Predicted XIs

Milan (4-3-3): Mirante; Calabria, Tomori, Thiaw, Florenzi; Musah, Adli, Reijnders; Pulisic, Giroud, Leao

Juventus (3-5-2): Szczesny; Gatti, Bremer, Rugani; McKennie, Miretti, Locatelli, Rabiot, Kostic; Milik, Vlahovic

Trambak Bhattacherjee | GIFN