AC Milan will host Atalanta at San Siro tonight hoping to make it four wins on the bounce in all competitions and lay down a marker in the top four race.
A mere glance at the Serie A table makes it apparent how big a game this is, with Milan currently in fourth spot on 44 points and Atalanta in sixth on 41 points. A win for the away side would see them leapfrog their Lombardy rivals by virtue of head to head.
You can read our pre-match preview here, while below are the best stats ahead of the game…
➤ Milan are unbeaten in their last four Serie A matches against Atalanta (three wins and a draw in the reverse fixture this season): the Rossoneri could play five consecutive league games without losing against the Bergamaschi for the first time since 2008-2012 (six encounters in that case).
➤ Milan won 2-0 in their last home Serie A match against Atalanta (15 May 2022), after a run of seven consecutive games at San Siro without beating the Bergamaschi (D4 L3); the last Rossoneri manager to win two games in a row at home against them in two consecutive league campaigns was Fabio Capello (in 1992/93 and 1993/94 seasons).
➤ Milan have won their last three matches in all competitions each with a 1-0: the Rossoneri have never won four games in a row this season (last time they did was at the end of the 2021/22 campaign) and the last time they enjoyed more consecutive wins without conceding goals was in February 2018 (five in that case, three in Serie A and two in the UEFA Europa League).
➤ Milan have picked up just one point in their last four matches against sides in the top six positions in the Serie A table at the start of that matchday (D1 L3), their last such win was against Inter (3-2 on September 3rd, 2022)
➤ Atalanta have lost three of their last four matches in all competitions (W1), having earned four wins and two draws in their first six matches of 2023; the Bergamaschi won their last league match away from home and they can win two consecutive matches on the road in Serie A for the first time since September 2022 (four in that case).
➤ In the last four games played with three central defenders, Milan are averaging 0.7 Expected Goals per game (all competitions) versus an average of 1.2 in the previous 28 games this season; conceding an average of 0.3 goals per game compared to 1.4 per match before the new defensive structure.
➤ Only Cremonese (seven) and Empoli (six) have conceded more goals following a corner than Atalanta and AC Milan (five each) in Serie A this season; on the other hand, only Torino (0), Monza and Sampdoria (one each) have scored fewer goals from this situation than the Nerazzurri and the Rossoneri (two each).
➤ Malick Thiaw is one of the two defenders, along with Kim Min-Jae, who have the most combined aerial duels (11) and headed clearances (10) in Serie A in February (21 for both the AC Milan player and the Napoli player).
➤ Rafael Leão – who scored in his last Serie A match at San Siro against Atalanta – has not been involved in any AC Milan goal in his last seven appearances in all competitions: the last time he played 8+ consecutive games with the Rossoneri without a goal or assist was in March 2021 (nine).
➤ Atalanta’s Rasmus Højlund is the fifth youngest non-Italian player in the three points for a win era to score at least six goals before reaching 20 Serie A appearances (only Adriano, Icardi, Kessié and Pato were younger).
