AC Milan will be looking to make it five wins in a row in Serie A and keep the pressure up on the teams above them when they welcome Bologna to San Siro on Saturday night.
Milan are on a winning streak in the league that has seen them beat Sassuolo, Empoli, Roma and most recently Udinese, and they could trim the gap to leaders Inter to three points though they will have two games in hand.
The victory on Saturday was an emotional one given what happened with Mike Maignan, and Stefano Pioli stated in his pre-match press conference that his side must continue to take things game by game.
Game date: Saturday, January 27
Kick-off time: 20:45 (CET)
Venue: San Siro
Referee: Davide Massa (VAR: Guida)
Team news
Despite the fact that the treatment room has been slowly emptying out over the past few weeks, there is still a list of key players that Pioli will be without for the game.
The headline absences continue to be the centre-back trio of Pierre Kalulu, Malick Thiaw and Fikayo Tomori, each of whom will still be out for a few weeks after sustaining serious muscle injuries late last year.
There was a shock in AFCON as the 2019 winners Algeria were dumped out of the tournament at the group stage, meaning Ismael Bennacer is back in Italy. However, he will miss the game with an adductor problem that saw him miss the last two games.
Samuel Chukwueze is still in the Ivory Coast with his country Nigeria after they topped the group, while the other absences are Tommaso Pobega in midfielder and Mattia Caldara in defence, both set to be out for some time yet.
According to the latest reports, the results against Roma and Udinese mean that Pioli is likely to make any changes at all to the starting line-up that won the last two games.
As a result, Mike Maignan will start in goal, Davide Calabria will captain the side from right-back, Simon Kjaer and Matteo Gabbia will be the central defenders and Theo Hernandez will complete the four-man defence at left-back.
In the midfield, Tijjani Reijnders will start next to Yacine Adli given Bennacer is set to return in the fixture against Frosinone. Ruben Loftus-Cheek will start ahead of them in the advanced midfield role.
Either side of the Englishman, as usual, will be Christian Pulisic and Rafael Leao. Olivier Giroud will lead the line, with Noah Okafor and Luka Jovic ready to come off the bench.
Probable Milan XI (4-2-3-1): Maignan; Calabria, Kjaer, Gabbia, Hernandez; Reijnders, Adli; Pulisic, Loftus-Cheek, Leao; Giroud.
The opponents
Bologna came into the 2023-24 season after a ninth-placed finish in Serie A last season, one that saw them go through three managers: the late Sinisa Mihajlovic, interim Luca Vigiani and the current boss Thiago Motta.
The summer saw some high-profile exits with Jerdy Schouten, Nicolas Dominguez and Musah Barrow leaving for a combined €30m.
However, Bologna stayed true to their recruitment model and brought in Jasper Karlsson, Sam Beukema, Dan Ndoye, Stefan Posch, Giovanni Fabbia and Riccardo Calafiori all for fees between €4m and €11m.
The result is that things have really clicked under Motta. After the 2-0 opening day defeat to Milan they went 10 unbeaten, and then won four out of five after Fiorentina ended that run to put them in the top four.
Recent defeats against Udinese and Cagliari either side of a home draw against Genoa have seen them slip a bit to seventh, but they have already draw with and beaten Inter at San Siro this season (in the league and Coppa Italia respectively).
In terms of injury news, Motta should have the on-loan Milan man Alexis Saelemaekers back at his disposal after he suffered another injury issue, while Joshua Zirkzee is back after suspension.
Stefan Posch has a one-match ban to serve though, while Adama Soumaoro and Dan Ndoye – who scored the extra-time winner to knock Inter out of the Coppa Italia – will both miss the game too.
The latest reports suggest that the Rossoblu will line up with Zirkzee leading the line, Saelemaekers on the left side, Orsolini on the right and Ferguson as the attacking midfielder.
Probable Bologna XI (4-2-3-1): Skorupski; De Silvestri, Beukema, Calafiori, Kristiansen; Freuler, Moro; Orsolini, Ferguson, Saelemaekers; Zirkzee.
Head to head
Bologna are the side that Milan have played the sixth-most in their history with 183 meetings across all competitions, resulting in 87 wins, 46 draws and 50 defeats – a win rate of 47.5%.
The two teams actually met in round one of the current season and it was the Rossoneri who emerged victorious thanks to goals from Pulisic and Giroud, securing a 2-0 victory.
In the same fixture last season – again in August – it was Milan who won 2-0 at San Siro with Leao getting the opening goal and Giroud making sure of the points.
Match facts…
➤ Milan are unbeaten in their last 16 games against Bologna in Serie A (W13 D3) – among current Serie A teams the Rossoblu are the side against which the Devil have the longest ongoing unbeaten run against.
➤ Since the start of 2016, Bologna have lost 13 of their 17 matches against Milan in Serie A (W1 D3), more than against any other opponent in this period in the top-flight.
➤ Milan have not conceded a goal in any of their last three home matches against Bologna in Serie A – the last Rossoblu goal away against Milan was scored by Takehiro Tomiyasu in July 2020 – and they could record four clean sheets at home in a row against Bologna for the first time since between 1989-1999 (6).
➤ After a run of nine matches in which they won only three times (D3 L3), Milan have won each of their last four Serie A matches, scoring exactly three goals in the most recent three; the last time the Rossoneri had a longer run of scoring 3+ goals in successive Serie A games was in November 2011 (5 such games under Massimiliano Allegri).
➤ Bologna have lost their last two away games in Serie A, after remaining unbeaten in 10 of the previous 11 (W3 D7); they last lost three successive away Serie A games in February 2022.
➤ Milan are the side with the most goals scored in the first half in Serie A this term (23), while Bologna have conceded at least one goal during the first 45 minutes of play in each of their last three league matches.
➤ Milan have nine players with more than one goal scored in Serie A this term, more than any other team, while no other side currently in the top half of the table has fewer such players than Bologna (5 – level with Fiorentina).
➤ The next game will be the 100th as a coach in Serie A for Thiago Motta, who will become the fifth youngest coach to reach this milestone in the three points for a win era (41 years and 152 days old on the day of the game), behind only Vincenzo Montella, Roberto Mancini, Carlo Ancelotti and Roberto De Zerbi.
➤ Among the players who have played at least 400 minutes in Serie A for Milan in the three-points-for-a-win era, Noah Okafor and Luka Jovic are the two with the best min/goals ratio, with one goal every 103 minutes and one goal every 118 minutes respectively. Indeed, they are positioned ahead of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who has scored a goal every 123 minutes on average.
➤ Riccardo Calafiori is the defender who recovered possession the most per game on average, among those with at least 15 games played in Serie A this term (6.9). Furthermore, the Bologna player is fourth among defenders in Serie A this term for interceptions (32), behind only Buongiorno (42), Scalvini (39) and Djimsiti (35).
Ones to watch
For Milan, the pressure will be on Leao to end his over 120-day Serie A scoring drought and get back to smiling on the field, while Giroud will look to continue his excellent campaign and Adli will again direct the midfield.
There will be a tough examination for Gabbia against Zirkzee, while Calabria will face his friend and former team-mate Saelemaekers on Bologna’s left side as per the predicted line-ups.
It could be a potential glimpse into the future for Milan tomorrow night as well, given that Zirkzee has been repeatedly linked with a summer move, as has head coach Thiago Motta.
The Dutchman is not the only player who has caught the eye for the Rossoblu though, given that Lewis Ferguson has also been outstanding (a reminder we spoke to his agent) as have Calafiori – a summer Milan target – and Posch at the back.
Prediction
As big a chance as this might be for Motta and co. to prove their credentials and get back on top in the top four race, we think Milan will keep riding the wave they are on and emerge with the points.
Milan 2-1 Bologna
I think it will balance match..but as usual milan will take it easy & make them lose..