AC Milan will be looking to return to winning ways at San Siro on Wednesday night as they host relegation-battling Cremonese.
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Milan and Roma played out a 1-1 draw on Saturday in the capital where all the drama came in the seven added minutes at the end of the 90 with Tammy Abraham scoring what looked to be a late winner before Alexis Saelemaekers converted Rafael Leao’s cross to stun the home crowd.
Wins for Inter and Atalanta but dropped points for Lazio and Juventus mean the top four race is even more compacted, meaning three points is a necessity in view of the weekend’s game against Maurizio Sarri’s side.
Game date: Wednesday, May 3
Kick-off time: 21:00 (CEST)
Venue: San Siro
Referee: Luca Pairetto (VAR: Banti)
Team news
There are some absences for Stefano Pioli to deal with in addition to what will probably be a necessity to rotate given that the next two games after the one against Cremonese are Lazio in the league and Inter in first leg of the Champions League semi-final.
Fikayo Tomori, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Tommaso Pobega have each been doing individual work so far in training this week which means the trio are ruled out for the game. The English defender will also serve a one-game suspension for reaching the yellow card threshold.
According to what is being reported by Sky, Pioli should stick with Mike Maignan, Davide Calabria and Theo Hernandez in the rearguard but Malick Thiaw and Pierre Kalulu should be the centre-back pairing with Tomori suspended.
Aster Vranckx should get an opportunity to play in a deeper midfield role alongside Ismael Bennacer, with Sandro Tonali getting some rest and Charles De Ketelaere in a more advanced role.
In the attacking department, Alexis Saelemaekers should start on the right flank and Brahim Diaz over Rafael Leao on the left, with Divock Origi currently tipped to be the striker.
Probable Milan XI (4-2-3-1): Maignan; Calabria, Kalulu, Thiaw, Hernandez; Vranckx, Bennacer; Saelemaekers, De Ketelaere, Diaz; Origi.
The opponents
Cremonese secured promotion back to the top flight after a 26-year hiatus last season, but their return to Serie A has been anything but the fairytale they hoped it might be as they are staring down the barrel at relegation.
Massimiliano Alvini was in charge until midway through January and Davide Ballardini took the reins from there, with the latter faring a lot better than his predecessor having won three games.
The Grigiorossi did not win any of their opening 22 games before they beat Roma 2-1 on February 28. They actually come into this game in what is relative good form, having beaten Sampdoria 3-2 and Empoli 1-0 in their last four games.
Cremonese did not spend a ton of money in the summer window but the likes of Cyriel Dessers, Felix Afena-Gyan, Charles Pickel, Emanuel Aiwu, Luca Zanimacchia and Luca Valzania all cost €3m or more and have failed to really deliver.
In terms of selection issues coming into the game, centre-forward Frank Tsadjout – who they bought permanently from Milan last summer – and midfielder Marco Benassi are our through injury. Left-back Giacomo Quagliata will also be suspended.
Ballardini should also make changes compared to their recent 1-1 draw with Verona with Okereke and Ciofani candidates to start up front with either Galdames or Buonaiuto as the playmaker in a 4-3-1-2 formation.
Sernicola should return at right-back with Valeri on the other flank. In defence, there are some doubts about whether Ferrari could return at centre-back but Vasquez and Lochoshvili are currently favoured.
The midfield trio should feature former Milan loanee Meite who spent the second half of the 2020-21 campaign with the Rossoneri, as well as Pickel and Castagnetti.
Probable Cremonese XI (4-3-1-2): Carnesecchi; Sernicola, Bianchetti, Chiriches, Valeri; Pickel, Castagnetti, Meite; Galdames; Okereke, Ciofani.
Head to head
Milan have played Cremonese 28 times in their history across all competitions, with 17 of them being wins in addition to five draws and six defeats, at a win rate of 60.7%.
The first ever meetings came back in the 1922-23 campaign of the ‘Prima Divisione’ and saw the Rossoneri do the double, winning 2-1 and home and 1-0 away.
The most recent game at San Siro involving the two sides was back in May 1996, when De Agostini (own-goal), Weah, Giandebiaggi (own-goal), Panucci, Di Canio (x2) and Boban scored in a 7-1 rout of the Tigri.
In the reverse fixture this season the spoils were shared in a 0-0 draw at the Stadio Giovanni Zini, with Divock Origi’s disallowed goal just about summing up the frustrations of the night for Pioli’s men.
Match facts…
➤ After a 0-0 draw in the reverse fixture in November, Cremonese could go unbeaten in both Serie A matches of the same Serie A campaign against Milan for the first time in their history.
➤ Milan have won all seven home Serie A games against Cremonese, among the teams against which they have recorded 100% home wins in the competition, only against Avellino (8/8) do the Rossoneri have a better such record.
➤ The last meeting at the Meazza between Milan and Cremonese in Serie A was back in May 1996, the Rossoneri, under manager Fabio Capello, won that match 7-1.
➤ Under Stefano Pioli, Milan achieved eight wins out of nine league games played in the month of May (D1), collecting eight clean sheets.
➤ In months they have played more than two games, May is the month of the year in which the Rossoneri – under Pioli in Serie A – have the highest points per game on average (2.78).
➤ Milan have conceded only one goal in their last five home league games (Boulaye Dia for Salernitana). The Rossoneri could register three home clean sheets in a row for the first time this league season.
➤ Milan have won each of their last eight home games against newly promoted sides in Serie A, conceding just one goal and scoring 20 goals (2.5 per game on average).
➤ In the 14 matches under Davide Ballardini, Cremonese have collected 13 points in Serie A, in this period they are 16th in the table, registering more points than Lecce, Empoli, Spezia and Sampdoria.
➤ Cremonese have conceded the most away goals in the current league campaign (32 in 16 games), however, no team has drawn more away games than the Grigiorossi in Serie A in 2022-23 (7).
➤ Rafael Leão has scored four goals in his last five games against newly promoted sides in Serie A, as many goals as in his first 15 matches against these opponents in the league.
➤ David Okereke has already scored twice against a team from the city of Milan in this campaign (goal home and away against Inter), the only player in Cremonese history to have scored against both the Nerazzurri and against the Rossoneri away from home in Serie A was Gustavo Dezotti in the 1989-90 campaign.
Ones to watch
There are a couple of players who may well be playing for their Milan future, in particular the Belgian duo of Origi and Vranckx. The former arrived on a free but has scored just twice this season while the latter is on loan, and neither have offered much this season.
Meanwhile De Ketelaere is still on the hunt for his first goal that many hope will light a spark and see his confidence rocket, and then there is a chance for Thiaw and Kalulu to show Pioli that they deserve a look with Kjaer and Tomori seemingly the first choice pairing.
Cremonese’s attacking threat has been quite widely spread this season as they have had 15 different scorers, but it is Dessers who leads they way with seven goal contributions. He is level with Okereke and Ciofani on six league goals for the season.
Left-back Emanuele Valeri has caught the attention of the big clubs in Italy with his performances this season, including Milan who are reportedly eyeing him as a potential deputy to Theo Hernandez.
Prediction
Mass rotation in attack has barely ever led to Milan playing at their free-flowing best, and although Cremonese need wins to keep alive their survival hopes it feels safe to assume they will sit deep to try and frustrate.
The previous meeting this season shows that they are capable of making life difficult and – much like the Empoli and Salernitana games – this could be a tough night if a goal doesn’t come early.
AC Milan 1-0 Cremonese
