AC Milan will be looking to bounce back with a strong performance this evening, taking on Napoli away from home. Even though the Rossoneri have been very successful in this fixture recently, it will be a tough game.
Stefano Pioli’s men have come away with all three points from Stadio Diego Armando Maradona in three consecutive league games. Napoli, on the other hand, have done the same thing at San Siro, making it a rather peculiar fixture.
You can read our pre-match preview here, while below are the best stats ahead of the game…
➤ Napoli have lost only three of their last nine league matches against Milan (W3 D3), however did lose the most recent match (0-4 last April); they last lost consecutive matches against the Rossoneri in Serie A back in February 2011, under Walter Mazzarri.
➤ Milan have won their last three Serie A away matches against Napoli; in their history they have never recorded more consecutive victories against the Partenopei on the road in the top-flight.
➤ Napoli have won on three of the last four occasions in which they’ve faced Milan having fewer points than them in the table at the start of the matchday (17 compared to the Rossoneri’s 21 in 2023-24), with the most recent such win back in December 2021 (1-0); Milan’s only win in that time was in November 2020 (3-1).
➤ Despite their defeat to Juventus last time out, Milan have won seven of their first nine matches in Serie A this term and they could record as many as eight victories in the first 10 games played in a single Serie A season for the third time in the last four league seasons, as many times as they did in the previous 63 campaigns.
➤ Napoli have lost two of their last three home games in Serie A (W1), as many defeats as in their previous 23 home league games. After the defeat against Fiorentina, the Partenopei could record two home defeats in a row in the competition for the first time since December 2021 (a run of three, against Atalanta, Empoli and Spezia).
➤ Milan are, along with Burnley and Aston Villa, one of the three teams that have neither scored nor conceded a headed goal in the big five European leagues this season.
➤ Napoli (7) and Milan (9) are the two teams to have scored the most goals in the second third of the match (between the 31st and 60th minute of play) in Serie A this term. Indeed, the Neapolitan team are the only side to have scored 10 goals in both first and second half of the matches in the current league season.
➤ Piotr Zielinski has scored four Serie A goals against Milan, his joint-most against an opponent in the competition (also against Udinese, including his first brace in the competition (August 2018, Napoli 3-2 Milan). The Napoli player is the only midfielder with double figures for assists since the start of last season in Serie A (10), while overall only Rafael Leão (11) and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (13) have more.
➤ Khvicha Kvaratskhelia has had 14 shot-ending carries and seven chance-creating ending caries in Serie A this season (21 combined), only Ousmane Dembelé has a higher such tally (22) across the big five European leagues for 2023-24.
➤ Rafael Leão has been involved in seven goals in his last eight matches against opponents starting the matchday in the top five positions of the Serie A table (5 goals and 2 assists), including a brace at Napoli in April – prior to then he had been involved in just four goals in 19 previous matches against these teams in the competition.
Milan’s problems stem from the fact that we need a real CDM and a real mobile striker (one who can run the channels and beat a man).
Man City dominate possession against most team and have 3 world class centre backs and still play with 2 CDM’s because they don’t want their centre backs exposed, are centre backs are exposed in every game because they get no cover from the midfield, we concede and our centre backs loose confidence.
We need a world class striker and CDM and until this happens we cannot do anything in Champions League, we may get away with in serial A bit not the champions league!!!
Keep the players we have and add the CDM and striker or be mediocre in Europe!!, maybe stark but is the truth