AC MILAN v JUVENTUS: MATCH PREVIEW
Serie A
A truly historic meeting. AC Milan v Juventus is one of the season’s unmissable fixtures and San Siro is ready. The game will kick off at 20:45 CET on the 23rd matchday of Serie A, the final game before the international break: a pivotal encounter which promises quality and could tell us a lot about the ambitions of these two sides. Let's take a look then and find out everything there is to know ahead the match just a few hours before the whistle blows.
LATEST FROM MILANELLO
After missing the Spezia match through suspension, Sandro Tonali will available again. Alessio Romagnoli will also be at Coach Pioli’s disposal, with the Rossoneri captain having tested negative for Covid. Following Algeria’s elimination from the 2022 Africa Cup of Nations, Ismaël Bennacer returned to Milanello on Friday. He’ll most likely be on the bench this evening. Meanwhile, Fik Tomori, who’s recovering from knee surgery, as well as Franck Kessie and Fodé Ballo-Touré, both of whom are still involved in AFCON, won’t feature. Even Pietro Pellegri is still recovering, who will have to wait until after the break for a return to action.
"Juventus are in excellent form. An average performance won’t be enough; it’ll need to be an extraordinary one. However, we’re capable of producing such a display," Pioli stated during his pre-match press conference. "I expect the best from the team tomorrow; if we want to achieve excellence, ordinary isn’t enough."
LATEST FROM JUVENTUS
Massimiliano Allegri won’t be able to call on the services of three players: Federico Chiesa, who recently underwent a knee operation and is expected to be out for the entire season, Leonardo Bonucci, who is struggling with a muscle problem, and Aaron Ramsey. Juventus are enjoying a good run of form and haven’t lost in Serie A since the end of November (v Atalanta): they’ve won six and drawn twice in their last eight games.
“We know it won’t be easy because AC Milan have excellent characteristics when it comes to long balls and counter-attacking,” said Allegri during his pre-match press conference. “They’ve picked up many good results over a long period. We’re putting in the work with the aim of trying to remain close to the top four.”
PRE-MATCH
AC Milan have remained unbeaten in three of their last four matches against Juventus in the league (W2, D1) and, for the second consecutive time, are more than six points ahead of the Bianconeri going into a Serie A match against them. Indeed, ahead of the reverse fixture, they held an eight-point advantage over the team from Turin. Juventus’ recent form, however, has been excellent, allowing them to move within one point of fourth place in the standings. Last season, the two teams met at San Siro on 6 January, with the visitors running out 3-1 winners against a heavily depleted AC Milan side. Earlier on this campaign, the sides played out a draw at the Allianz Stadium: on 19 September, Ante Rebić’s header in the closing stages cancelled out Morata’s early opener.
LATEST FROM SERIE A
Marco Di Bello will be the referee for the San Siro showdown. Di Bello has taken charge of 131 matches in the Italian top flight and last refereed the Rossoneri on 22 December 2021, when it finished Empoli 2-4 AC Milan. In total, he’s been the man in the middle for twelve games involving the Diavolo, who won nine, drew one and lost two of those fixtures.
Matchday 23 has been played out across three different days: on Friday, it ended Hellas Verona 2-1 Bologna, while yesterday’s results were as follows: Genoa 0-0 Udinese, Inter 2-1 Venezia and Lazio 0-0 Atalanta. Today began with Cagliari 1-1 Fiorentina, with Torino v Sassuolo, Spezia v Sampdoria and Napoli v Salernitana all scheduled for 15:00 CET. Empoli v Roma will kick off at 18:00 CET before AC Milan v Juventus brings the matchday to a close.
These are the current league standings: Inter 53, Milan 48, Napoli 46, Atalanta 43, Juventus 41, Fiorentina and Lazio^ 36, Roma 35, Hellas Verona^ 33, Torino* 31, Empoli 29, Sassuolo 28, Bologna 27, Spezia 22, Udinese* 21, Sampdoria 20, Venezia 18, Cagliari^ 17, Genoa^ 13, Salernitana* 11. (* one game in hand; ** two games in hand; ^ one more game).
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