AC MILAN v PISA: MATCH PREVIEW

The Rossoneri's final home game of October will see Massimiliano Allegri's side play a crucial game as the new league leaders. It's not a match to be taken lightly as Pisa, led by the familiar Alberto Gilardino, return to San Siro. The Tuscan team will be playing AC Milan in Serie A for the first time in over three decades and will be aiming to put up a strong fight. Let's take a closer look ahead of the matchday eight opener with the Match Preview. 

LATEST FROM MILANELLO
A "short" week of training for the Rossoneri, with an unusual Friday fixture, the first of the season, partly because of the midweek match, which will see AC Milan play away in Bergamo. With two significant matches coming up, Roma, after Atalanta, it's vital to approach the match against Pisa with full focus and secure all three points. Squad availability continues to prove difficult, but there is good news as Nkunku is back and ready to play in attack, which will also feature the Gimenez-Leāo partnership from the start, following the promising signs in the second half of the match against Fiorentina. The starting XI against the Tuscan side is yet to be confirmed, but Saelemaekers looks set to return to the right flank. As for the defence, there may be some changes with De Winter potentially starting in place of either Tomori, Gabbia, or Pavlović.  

"Apart from the match against Bologna, Pisa have always put up a strong fight, conceding as little as possible." Allegri commented during his press conference, saying, "We'll need to approach them the right way. Winning won't be easy, but it is important to secure the three points to get closer to our objective, which is the Champions League. We need to keep calm and stay grounded: fans are allowed to dream, but we have to carry on working and keep our excitement moderated. We'll start from 0-0, and to secure the points, we'll have to display a strong performance."

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LATEST FROM PISA
Pisa's return to Serie A after 35 years has been anything but smooth sailing as they continue to seek their first victory of the season. However, the results have been more unforgiving than deserved: The Tuscan Nerazzurri drew with Atalanta and Fiorentina and put up a serious fight against Roma and Napoli, only to suffer narrow defeats. The attack has proved their true weakness, as Pisa have only scored in two matches this season, once against Atalanta thanks to an own goal, and then in Naples with Nzola's conversion from a penalty and Lorran's goal. In his usual 3-5-2 formation, Gilardino could play Albiol at the heart of his defence after his strong debut performance against Verona. Lusuardi is injured, but Touré returns from suspension. In attack, we could see the Tramoni-Nzola duo, although Cuadrado is also an option to support the former Spezia and Fiorentina striker. 

"At San Siro, we'll need to play with enthusiasm but also with the motivation of facing the league leaders," commented Gilardino on the day before the match. "We'll need humility when defending but also confidence in possession. AC Milan are a team that have rebuilt defensive solidarity, thanks to Allegri, who has made the most of his players' potential, implemented his philosophy in a short space of time. We know who we're up against, but in football, nothing is impossible."

PRE-MATCH STATS

• AC Milan have faced Pisa 12 times in Serie A (10W, 2D), remaining unbeaten in every meeting, more than double the number of games played unbeaten against any other in the competition. The Rossoneri have kept a clean sheet in nine of those twelve matches, their highest percentage against any opponent they have faced at least five times in Serie A. 
• In the last four Serie A meetings between AC Milan and Pisa at the Rossoneri's home ground, only three goals have been scored, with all three coming from the hosts (three 1-0 victories and one 0-0 draw). Milan currently only have a longer run of home clean sheets in Serie A against Avellino, Empoli (five), and Cesena (nine).  
• AC Milan are one of two teams with the most clean sheets in the league this season (on par with Roma at four) and have conceded the fewest shots compared to any other side (62). In four of their seven games so far, the Rossoneri have only let in seven shots or fewer, including in their most recent game against Fiorentina, where the Tuscan side only managed five shots. 
• In the last round, Rafael Leāo scored again at San Siro in Serie A. In the two matches before he had scored at home, he also scored in the next home game: against Salernitana and Cagliari in May 2024, and against Atalanta and Lecce between February and April of the same year. 

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WHERE TO WATCH AC MILAN v PISA
In Italy, the match will be shown live on DAZN, Sky Sport and NOW. To watch it in a different country, you will need to head to the "AC Milan on TV" section under the heading "Abroad". The Matchday coverage will be available on Milan TV: with the live stream starting from 20:00 CEST, leading you right up to kick-off. Following the match, there will be coverage of player interviews and Coach Allegri's press conference. Don't miss the coverage on acmilan.com, AC Milan Official App, the social media channels, and WhatsApp.

LATEST FROM SERIE A
Luca Zufferli, the young referee from the Udine section, will officiate the match. He has only officiated one previous match for the Rossoneri, AC Milan 3-0 Lecce last season. The linesmen will be Rossi and Mastrodonato, Collu will be the fourth official, Gariglio will be the VAR referee, and Doveri will be on AVAR.

The eighth matchday of the league will kick off at San Siro. The matches continue on Saturday 25, with four games: at 15:00 CEST Parma v Como and Udinese v Lecce, at 18:00 CEST Napoli v Inter, and at 20:45 CEST Cremonese v Atalanta. The other games in the eighth round will take place on Sunday 26 October, starting with Torino v Genoa (12:30 CET), followed by Hellas Verona v Cagliari (15:00 CET), Sassuolo v Roma (15:00 CET), Fiorentina v Bologna (18:00 CET), and Lazio v Juventus (20:45 CET). 

The current standings: AC Milan 16; Inter, Napoli, and Roma 15; Bologna 13; Como, and Juventus 12; Atalanta 11; Sassuolo and Cremonese 10; Udinese 9; Lazio, Cagliari, and Torino 8; Parma and Lecce 6; Hellas Verona 4; Fiorentina, Genoa, and Pisa 3.

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