AC Milan will take on Lazio at San Siro on Saturday evening looking to make it three wins out of three in Serie A following their midweek success.
Milan seem to have recovered well after their derby loss to Inter as a 0-0 draw against Newcastle United in the Champions League was followed by 1-0 and 3-1 wins over Hellas Verona and Cagliari respectively in the league.
Stefano Pioli outlined the need for focus against a dangerous opponent in his pre-match press conference, but with Inter losing in midweek there is a chance to seize a moment.
Game date: Saturday, September 30
Kick-off time: 18:00 (CEST)
Venue: San Siro
Referee: Davide Massa (VAR: Mazzoleni)
Team news
Pioli made the decision to field a side with several of the ‘reserve’ options in the win against Cagliari, starting with Marco Sportiello who filled in for the injured Mike Maignan. The Frenchman rejoined full training and is expected to feature.
Alessandro Florenzi got the nod at right-back with Davide Calabria suffering from muscle fatigue, and it appears as though the captain is currently likely to come back into the side having also returned to training with the rest of the squad.
Yacine Adli started in the deeper midfield role with Rade Krunic out for around a month and Ismael Bennacer set to miss at least the next couple of months.
In attack the decision was taken to rest Olivier Giroud and Rafael Leao who had started every game up to that point, with Christian Pulisic playing on the left, Samuel Chukwueze on the right and Noah Okafor down the middle.
In addition to Bennacer and Krunic, Milan are without Pierre Kalulu for the game as he continues his recovery from a muscle injury sustained earlier in the month.
As per widespread sources there should be several changes to the Rossoneri’s line-up, including the return of Maignan and Calabria as mentioned. Malick Thiaw, Fikayo Tomori and Theo Hernandez should keep their spot in the back four.
In midfield Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Tijjani Reijnders are sure of their place, while there is a battle for the final place between Adli who started the last game and Yunus Musah, with the Franco-Algerian currently favoured.
Moving to the attack, Giroud and Leao will return from the first minute, teaming up with Christian Pulisic to complete the trident. Okafor and Chukwueze will therefore be available off the bench.
Probable Milan XI (4-3-3): Maignan; Calabria, Thiaw, Tomori, Theo; Loftus-Cheek, Adli, Reijnders; Pulisic, Giroud, Leao.
The opponents
After finishing second last season, a summer of fine-tuning was expected for Lazio, but the departure of Sergej Milinkovic-Savic to Al-Hilal for €40m changed that.
That money was effectively reinvested on three players: Taty Castellanos from New York City FC, Gustav Isaksen from FC Midtjylland and Matteo Cancellieri from Hellas Verona.
Other names of note to arrive were Matteo Guendouzi on an initial loan from Marseille, Nicolo Rovella and Luca Pellegrini who both joined on loan from Juventus, and the Milan-linked Daichi Kamada on a free.
It has been a bumpy start to the season for Maurizio Sarri’s men, though. They lost their first two games against Lecce and Genoa scoring just one goal, and were also beaten 3-1 by Juve in round four.
They have two wins from their first six games – against Napoli and Torino – with a 1-1 home draw against Monza completing the record and putting them in 12th at the time of writing.
Ciro Immobile and Marco Zaccagni were not on the pitch for training on Friday, but for both players it is a simple matter of work load management and they will be available as normal.
Adam Marusic also did an individual session, but again the full-back also has no problems other than simple fatigue, due to the fact that he has played all the games so far this season.
As per The Laziali, Lazio’s only concern is defender Alessio Romagnoli, who suffered a broken nose recently. He could appear in the match with a face mask on.
Probable Lazio XI (4-3-3): Provedel; Lazzari, Casale, Romagnoli, Pellegrini; Vecino, Rovella, Luis Alberto; Felipe Anderson, Immobile, Zaccagni.
Head to head
There are only four teams that Milan have played more than Lazio in their history, with 188 meetings across all competitions. Of those, 84 were wins for Milan with 64 being draws and 40 wins for the capital club.
Last season the shares were spoiled as Lazio triumphed 4-0 at the Stadio Olimpico during what was Milan’s darkest point of the season. Milinkovic-Savic, Zaccagni, Alberto and Felipe Anderson each scored.
The Rossoneri got their revenge back at San Siro in May, winning 2-0 with goals from Ismael Bennacer and Theo in the first half, the latter of which was memorable thanks to a run of over 80 metres.
Milan have lost just one home league game against the Biancocelesti since 1989, that coming in November 2019.
Match facts…
➤ None of the last nine matches between AC Milan and Lazio in Serie A have ended in a draw, with six wins for the Rossoneri – including one in the most recent match (2-0 in May 2023) – and three for the Biancocelesti in the period.
➤ Milan won 2-0 v Lazio in their last match in Serie A in May, and could win two league games in a row against the Biancocelesti without conceding a goal for the first time since 2004 (when Carlo Ancelotti and Roberto Mancini were the managers of the two clubs).
➤ Milan have won six of their last seven home games against Lazio in Serie A (L1). Overall, the Rossoneri have won 47 home league games against the Biancocelesti; only against Fiorentina (50) and Roma (48) have they recorded more home wins in Serie A.
➤ Milan have won eight of their last nine games in Serie A (L1), scoring an average of 2.44 goals per game in this period; furthermore, in this period, they have scored in the first half of eight of those nine games (the only exception being against Inter on 16 September).
➤ Milan have won their last five home league games; only once under Stefano Pioli have the Rossoneri achieved a longer streak of consecutive home wins in Serie A (six between April and September 2022).
➤ After their 2-0 success against Torino in the midweek round, Lazio could keep two clean sheets in a row in Serie A for the first time since a run of six consecutive clean sheets between February and April 2023.
➤ Lazio have lost four of their last seven away league games (W3), as many defeats as they had in their previous 25 away matches in Serie A (W15 D6).
➤ Théo Hernández has scored in two of his last three matches at the San Siro against Lazio in Serie A, including the most recent, in which the AC Milan defender scored to make it 2-0 in May. Among teams currently in the competition, only against Torino (three goals) has he scored more.
➤ Ruben Loftus-Cheek scored in Milan’s last match against Cagliari; the English midfielder has not been on the scoresheet in two consecutive league matches since April 2019 (with Chelsea, in the Premier League, against Brighton and Cardiff).
➤ Lazio’s Ciro Immobile has scored eight goals against Milan in the top-flight; starting from his first goal against the Rossoneri in the competition (February 2014) he has scored the most goals against them in Serie A of any player (three of these at Meazza).
Ones to watch
A lot of the eyes from a Milan point of view will be on how Yacine Adli fairs in the deep-lying playmaker role, while a refreshed Olivier Giroud hasn’t scored an open play goal since the first round of the season.
Rafael Leao has scored in each of his last three Serie A starts and will look to build on that by targeting Casale. Theo Hernandez scored an amazing solo goal in this game last year, with his defensive partners Fikayo Tomori and Malick Thiaw called on to continue their improved work at the back.
Ciro Immobile and Luis Alberto are the two players who stand out for Lazio from an attacking standpoint having each netted twice, but Mattia Zaccagni is a real threat out wide and recently broke his duck for the season.
Alessio Romagnoli will return to the club he played at for over half a decade and will marshall the defensive department, while Nicolo Rovella has also impressed and Manuel Lazzari faces a tough test stopping Milan’s left side.
Prediction
This feels like a game where there could be plenty of goals. Lazio are struggling despite their last win and need a statement victory which suggests Sarri is unlikely to set up for a point, and we hope Milan’s momentum and attacking fluidity can guide them to a third win in a row.
Milan 3-1 Lazio
That midfield 3 will not happen. Adli will not play. Hopefully he wont put Pobega in. The guy cant pass a ball. However seing both Musah and Adli play and letting one of Reijnders and RLC rest might be good.
I think Musah is much smarter option than Adli.
Predication is too brave. I think Lazio will be very difficult to beat. If we win that’s huge win. But draw in my opinion is possible here.
Personally i think aldi is far more intelligent than musah. Thats my opinion though. Technical,passing gameplay adlis got the frontfoot! As you all can se from the Cagliari game is that he ha talent! Give him more time in that position and he will be top 10 in Europe! Please patience with this guy, or else we are gonna to sell for a low price and hes gonna be a top player in every top League that out there. #Zidane
Aldi is that intelligent that he can play in every league at the same time?
I think he meant that Musah is the more intelligent choice because hes a smarter more capable defender, his ability to position himself so that he is never out of position and then his possession around the box is a nice safety net.
But they are saving him for the Dortmund Game
Aldi has different skills but if he can hit some counters and hold up on defense that would really inspire a lot more confidence. i I dont think he can afford another mistake though.
Just play, don’t hassle the ball and wait for opposition to form themselves in defence. That’s what happened with both Inter and Cagliari. Fast transition from defense to attack. I thought they’re going to play gegenpressen with these signings.
4-1
2-0 at the half.
Giroud with a brace getting assists from Puli and Adli.
Leao with and assist from TR.
Chuk scores late.
We give one up from weak Adli defense but we see him improve. (Man I really am pulling for this one)
Musah off the bench at the 60 for Adli as a wrecking ball.
Chuk, Okay & Romero at the 60 for workload mgmt
Lazio is playing like a group of talented individuals rather than a team. We exploit it.
Nice to think that Flo is getting a rest after two games and can be ready to spell Calabria with developing rhythm on the right. Hope we see some more flow/continuity from or subs.
For those interested, Balon just released the Silvio Berlusconi Milan documentary on YouTube. It’s pretty damn great.
Legend.
He was wonderful for Milan, but let’s be honest, the guy was a dodgy lowlife ultra-corrupt sex-mad grifter.
This should really be a win – Lazio are not in a good place, and our rotations are starting to look good. I’d love Pioli to start Adli, he deserves it after Cagliari, but I doubt whether he will.