AC Milan will be looking to make it five wins in a row in Serie A when they make the trip to take on Torino on Sunday night.
Milan have been buoyed by recent victories against Empoli, Juventus, Hellas Verona, Monza and most recently in the Champions League against Dinamo Zagreb, having scored four goals in each of their last two wins.
Nonetheless, Turin is never an easy hunting ground as the past has shown, and Stefano Pioli’s side will have to be at their best to keep the winning run going.
Game date: Sunday, October 30th
Kick-off time: 20:45 (CET)
Venue: Stadio Olimpico Grande Torino
Referee: Abisso (VAR: Aureliano)
Team news
Pioli will have the same injury absences to contend with as Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Alexis Saelemaekers, Davide Calabria, Mike Maignan and Alessandro Florenzi are all out until 2023, while Sergino Dest remains the only fitness doubt after Brahim Diaz’s recovery.
As mentioned, the Rossoneri managed to beat Dinamo Zagreb convincingly (4-0) but there should be a number of changes made from the side that were in rampant form in Croatia.
According to Sky Italia, as cited by Francesco Nasato, Pioli will make four alterations to the starting XI. Tomori served a suspension in the Champions League but will play from start against Torino, teaming up with Matteo Gabbia who scored against Dinamo.
In the midfield, Tommaso Pobega will replace Ismael Bennacer and it will be an opportunity for the Algerian to rest after a hard-fought game. Further up the pitch, Charles De Ketelaere looks set to keep his spot despite Diaz’s recent form, most likely due to the latter’s minor injury discomfort.
Divock Origi will also get the chance from start after doing well recently, with the attack completed by Rafael Leao on the left and Junior Messias on the right.
Probable Milan XI (4-2-3-1): Tatarusanu; Kalulu, Gabbia, Tomori, Theo Hernandez; Tonali, Pobega; Messias, De Ketelaere, Leao; Origi.
The opponents
Torino have had a mixed but overall a positive start to the 2022-23 campaign as they sit in 10th position in the table with 14 points from their opening 11 games, with four wins, two draws and five defeats.
The summer saw Il Toro be quite aggressive in the transfer market as they signed Yann Karamoh from Parma, Per Schuurs from Ajax, Aleksei Miranchuk from Atalanta and Nikola Classic from West Ham among others.
They began the season with three wins in their opening five games and that has allowed them to generate some separation from the bottom three, but they have lost four of their last six games, though Inter, Napoli and Juventus were in that run.
The trend was bucked in the last round of action however as the Granata won 2-1 away against Udinese, with Ola Aina and Pietro Pellegri getting the goals.
Juric has some injury problems to contend with as Antonio Sanabria’s leg injury should keep him out of the game, which means for Milan striker Pietro Pellegri is expected to lead the line for them.
Wing-back Ola Aina is not expected to feature either which is a big blow given he scored during the win over Udinese, with either Wilfried Singo or Mergim Vojvoda expected to replace him.
The three-man defence should feature Djidji, Schuurs and another ex-Milan man in Ricardo Rodriguez, with Inter loanee Lazara at right wing-back and a double pivot of Lukic and Ricci. Miranchuk and Vlasic are expected to be the attacking midfielders supporting Pellegri to complete the attack.
Probable Torino XI (3-4-2-1): Milinkovic-Savic; Djidji, Schuurs, Rodriguez; Lazaro, Lukic, Ricci, Vojvoda; Miranchuk, Vlasic; Pellegri.
Head to head
Milan have only faced five teams more than they have faced Torino in the Italian top flight, with the Rossoneri having met the Granata on 152 occasions, winning 62 of them with 57 draws and 33 defeats.
The games last season were not exactly blockbusters as the first fixture ended 1-0 to Milan with Olivier Giroud getting the only goal, and the return game in Turin was a 0-0 draw that at the time was damaging for Milan’s title hopes.
However, one unforgettable game came in May of 2021 when the Diavolo ran out 7-0 winners at the Stadio Olimpico Grande Torino. Theo Hernandez got a brace, Franck Kessie and Brahim Diaz scored before Ante Rebic bagged a 12-minute hat-trick.
The last time Milan lost on that ground was in the 2019-20 season when a quick fire brace from Andrea Belotti downed his boyhood club. Milan also lost 2-0 in the 2018-19 season, but before that their last defeat away against Torino was in 2001.
Match facts…
➤ Torino drew 0-0 in their last Serie A encounter with Milan, having lost their previous four against them in the competition (all without scoring).
➤ Torino have failed to score a Serie A goal against Milan in their last 464 minutes (excl. injury time): they last scored against Milan in a 2-1 victory back in September 2019, thanks to a Belotti strike (in their last league victory against the Rossoneri).
➤ Torino and AC Milan have drawn seven of their last 11 Serie A meetings in Turin (two wins each), including the most recent one last April: since 2006/07, Milan are the side against which the Granata have drawn the most top-flight home matches (seven).
➤ Following their win against Udinese last time out, Torino could win two successive Serie A matches for the first time since last January (v Fiorentina and Sampdoria).
➤ Milan are unbeaten in their last 17 Serie A away matches (W12 D5), the longest open run in the big-5 European leagues: they last had a longer such run between September 1991 and October 1993 (38 under Fabio Capello).
➤ Milan have scored the most goals from open play in Serie A this season (21); on the other hand, only Torino (zero) have scored fewer set-piece goals (excl. penalties) so far than AC Milan (one).
➤ No side has attempted more shots from outside the box than Milan in Serie A this season (67), whilst Torino have had 48: however, the Granata are the only side yet to score a goal from outside the box so far.
➤ No current Torino player has scored a Serie A goal against Milan; considering all competitions, their only player to have netted against them is Antonio Sanabria, for Real Betis in October 2018, in the UEFA Europa League.
➤ Torino are Ante Rebic’s favourite opponent across the ‘top five’ European leagues; he has scored five goals in five appearances against them (one for Fiorentina), including his only brace (on 12th May 2021, in a 7-0 win for Milan at the Olimpico Grande Torino).
➤ Rafael Leão is the Portuguese player to have had a hand in the most goals in the ‘top five’ European leagues in 2022/23 (nine: five goals + four assists) – furthermore, he is one of the five players born since 1999 to have been involved in 9+ goals so far this term in the big-5 European leagues, alongside Musiala, Haaland, David and Foden.
Ones to watch
Nikola Classic is the danger man for Torino and Milan fans will remember his name well from the summer 2021 window when his name was heavily linked. He has three goals so far this season and is the top scorer.
Aside from that the threat is pretty spread, as only the injured Sanabria has scored more than one goal aside from Classic. Mergim Vojvoda provides dangerous deliveries from the wing-back role and leads the team in assists with two, though Torino’s scoring woes (10 goals in 11 games) are evident.
It is a big game for Milan’s two Belgians as both Divock Origi and Charles De Ketelaere are tipped to get the start. The striker got his first goal in his first start during the win over Monza, while the playmaker is yet to get off the mark but is finding himself in good positions.
Aside from the forwards, Fikayo Tomori should come back into the line-up and will be looking for a seamless defensive performance, and Tommaso Pobega will face off against his former club as part of the double pivot.
Prediction
This feels like a tough game to call as Torino are likely to sit deep and compact, hoping to hit Milan on the break with the pace from their two attacking midfielders. However, the Rossoneri must extend their winning run if they are serious about retaining the Scudetto as slip-ups are not an option.
Torino 1-2 AC Milan
With Napoli, Inter and Juve all winning yesterday, pressure is on already and if Lazio and Atalanta win today then we’ll start in fourth place. Come on guys!
“Nikola Classic”?????
LOL. I think you meant Nikola Vlašić. Not a classic yet.