AC Milan welcome Empoli to the San Siro this afternoon, hoping to extend their winning run across all competitions to three games and to take advantage of some of the other games this round.
Milan will have a bit of confidence going into the game considering the wins over Lazio and Slavia Praha, but the feeling is that they could have done a lot better performance-wise in both of those games, so another strong statement will be needed today.
As always our pre-match preview has everything you need to know regarding team news and opposition insight, while below are the best stats ahead of the game…
➤ Empoli have won just one of their last 14 Serie A matches against AC Milan (5D, L8): 2-1 on April 23, 2017 at San Siro, thanks to goals scored by Levan Mchedlidze and Mame Thiam.
➤ AC Milan have kept a clean sheet in four of their last six matches against Empoli in Serie A, after conceding at least one goal in each one of the previous 10.
➤ Empoli have avoided defeat in four of their last six meetings with Milan when facing them for a second time that season in Serie A (1W, 3D), although in the last three they have not scored a single goal.
➤ Since early December, only Inter have collected more points and scored more goals than Milan in Serie A: 40 points and 39 goals for the Nerazzurri in this period, with 30 and 30 for the Rossoneri.
➤ After a run of five consecutive away games without a win in Serie A (3D, 2L), Empoli won the two most recent ones, against Salernitana and Sassuolo; the last time they won three away games in a row in the competition was between December 2015 and January 2016, with Marco Giampaolo on the bench.
➤ Among the teams that finished the first half of this Serie A season in the bottom eight positions, Empoli are the team that have collected the most points in their first eight matches played in the second half (12), just one fewer than their total in the first half of the season (13).
➤ Milan have scored the most goals in the big five European leagues this season from substitute players (13): this is also a record for the Rossoneri in a single Serie A tournament in the three-point-per-win era, while since 1994/95, only Napoli (16 in 2022/23), Fiorentina (17 in 2022/23) and Atalanta (20 in 2019/20 and 21 in 2020/21) have had more in a single campaign.
➤ In case of a victory here, Stefano Pioli would surpass 350 points won as a coach in charge of Milan in Serie A (currently on 348), becoming just the second manager to reach this milestone with the Rossoneri in the three points per win era, after Carlo Ancelotti (557).
➤ M’Baye Niang, who scored eight goals in 67 Serie A matches with AC Milan between 2012 and 2017, has been involved in four goals in his four appearances in the competition with Empoli (three goals and one assist). Indeed, he has also been involved in two goals in two league matches played against Rossoneri, notching a goal and an assist, both on April 29, 2015 at San Siro (for Genoa).
➤ Milan’s Olivier Giroud, who found the net in his last league game against Empoli on January 7th, has scored 12 goals in the current league season – only in 2022/23 has he netted more in a single season in the competition (13).
