AC MILAN v SPEZIA: MATCH PREVIEW

Home sweet home. Between Serie A and the Coppa Italia, AC Milan v Spezia will be the third match the Rossoneri have played at San Siro in the space of two weeks. And another one – AC Milan v Juve – is coming up next weekend too. The Diavolo will be looking to take advantage of the home factor, even if stadium capacity has been reduced. At 18:30 CET on Monday – an unusual day and time to take to the pitch – Coach Pioli’s men need to continue pushing on in the league. Here’s our Match Preview of tonight’s matchday 22 clash:

LATEST FROM MILANELLO
The crisis in defence isn't letting up with an injury to Fikayo Tomori in the Coppa Italia complicating matters; there is good news, though, as Calabria and Romagnoli have both recovered from COVID-19. Davide is available for selection but is unlikely to start, so we will probably see the same starting back four that we have become accustomed to at the start of 2022: Florenzi, Kalulu, Gabbia and Hernández (cautioned). The choice for the midfield is enforced by Tonali's suspension: Krunić and Bakayoko. Up front, finally, there's more room for rotation with Ibrahimović having rested after missing the cup tie against Genoa. The Rossoneri have a big chance to record a third consecutive win in Serie A after the winter break - a fourth factoring in the win over Empoli before Christmas and a fifth in all competitions.

"We'll need to play as a team," said head coach Stefano Pioli in his pre-match press conference at Milanello. "We're in for a tough game against a team that have won their two most recent away matches without conceding a single goal. We need to have a clear strategy. We've always shown that we're an intelligent group; we know that we need to play with the right mindset."  

LATEST FROM SPEZIA
Spezia are going into the game following a win away at Genoa in a sort of relegation playoff. Bastoni bagged the only goal in the 1-0 victory, which gave the Aquilotti a little bit of breathing room in the table. The Ligurian outfit are still in a relegation battle and have a long way to go until they are mathematically safe. Ferrer is back in the squad, while Sena and Colley are unavailable. Thiago Motta's preferred system is with a back four: Provedel in goal and a variable team in the middle and up top based on the availability of any given player: from Bastoni to Verdi, as well as Gyasi, Nzola and Kovalenko - the threats are not lacking.

"This is a young group," Thiago Motta said. "It was obvious that we needed time but we can still grow a lot, making use of this recent unison. AC Milan are team built to go deep into the title race. I expect AC Milan to be at their absolute best, they have a lot of quality no matter who plays and we know they are a strong side."

PRE-MATCH
From matchday six to matchday 22: a leap of almost four months. AC Milan and Spezia last met in September 2020, in the middle of a very positive period for the Diavolo. Back then, it finished 2-1 to the Rossoneri at the Stadio Picco, with Daniel Maldini bagging his first Serie A goal and Brahim Díaz then scoring the winner following Verde’s equaliser. The last showdown between the sides at San Siro – the only one in the Italian top flight so far – took place on 4 October 2020, when a Leão brace and Hernández’s finish secured a comfortable 3-0 victory over the Ligurian outfit. It was the best possible way to prepare for the Derby, which AC Milan won thanks to a standout performance from Ibrahimović.

LATEST FROM SERIE A
Marco Serra will be the referee for AC Milan v Spezia. Cipressa and Grossi will be the linesmen, Sozza will perform the role of fourth official and Doveri (alongside Vivenzi) will oversee VAR. Serra is set to take charge of his eleventh Serie A match and his third game involving the Rossoneri, who came out on top in all of those fixtures: two home wins against Cagliari (3-0 in August 2020 and 4-1 in August 2021) and the aforementioned 3-0 victory over Spezia in October 2020.

There aren’t many fixtures remaining on matchday 22 in Serie A, with Saturday’s matches finishing as follows: Sampdoria 1-2 Torino, Salernitana 0-3 Lazio and Juventus 2-0 Udinese. As for Sunday, this is how things played out: Sassuolo 2-4 Verona, Venezia 1-1 Empoli, Roma 1-0 Cagliari and Atalanta 0-0 Inter. Today, in addition to AC Milan v Spezia, two other games are scheduled: Bologna v Napoli (18:30 CET) and Fiorentina v Genoa (20:45 CET).

Here are the current Serie A standings: Inter* 50, Milan* 48, Napoli* 43, Atalanta* 42, Juventus 41, Lazio, Roma 35, Fiorentina** 32, Torino* 31, Hellas Verona 30, Empoli 29, Sassuolo 28, Bologna** 27, Udinese** e Sampdoria 20, Spezia* 19, Venezia* 18, Cagliari 16, Genoa* 12, Salernitana** 11. (* one game in hand; ** two games in hand).

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