CREMONESE v AC MILAN: OPPONENT REVIEW

After a hard-fought 2-1 home win over Spezia, which came in the final minutes of the game thanks to a goal from centre-forward Olivier Giroud, AC Milan return to face Cremonese in Serie A after 9676 days since their last meeting. On that occasion the Rossoneri won 7-1 at San Siro, inflicting one of their three heaviest defeats ever in Serie A, following a 9-0 win against Roma and a 6-0 win against Lazio. On the other hand, Massimiliano Alvini's side have yet to pick up a win in this championship, having recorded seven defeats and six draws, including the two in the most recent matches against Udinese (0-0) and Salernitana (2-2), making them the team to have recorded the joint most draws in these first 13 matches of Serie A (six), on par with Lecce. 

In particular, the Grigiorossi have scored just two goals and amassed just two points in their first six home games in this league, equalling the negative record in terms of both points scored and goals scored at home at this point in the tournament held by five other teams: Atalanta in 1978/79, Ascoli in 1986/87, Sassuolo and Benevento in 2017/18 and lastly Sampdoria also this season. However, despite the 2-1 defeat they suffered against Torino in their last Serie A away fixture, AC Milan arrive as favourites in this match as they have not suffered two consecutive away defeats in the top flight since Stefano Pioli's first two matches with the Rossoneri, against Roma and Juventus between October and November 2019.

ALVINI LIKES TO PUT A HIGH PRESS ON HIS OPPONENTS
The team led by Massimiliano Alvini prefers a game based on rapid frontal changes and ball recovery, taking full advantage of the opponents' lapses, especially in the final third of the pitch: in fact, the Grigiorossi are the team that has made the most offensive recoveries (105) after Inter (113) and Napoli (107), and counts the most high interruptions of opponents' plays (187) behind Verona, Atalanta (both 189) and Sampdoria (191) and, above all, the team that has made the most interceptions in this championship (145). In addition to these three aspects, Cremonese prefer to trigger their attackers through crosses, making the most of the width of the pitch to create problems for the opposing defence: in fact, only Fiorentina (59) boast more successful crosses on action than Cremonese (47) in this Serie A.

CREMONESE'S TWO HITMEN: OKEREKE AND CIOFANI
The main dangers for the Rossoneri's defence are represented above all by two players who are fundamental to the side coached by Massimiliano Alvini: David Okereke and Daniel Ciofani. The former is Cremonese's top scorer in this Serie A with three goals, two of which, including the last one against Salernitana, were scored from distance. This makes Okereke one of three strikers, along with Lautaro Martinez and Dusan Vlahović, to have been able to find more than one goal from outside the box in the current championship. The latter, on the other hand, is currently the oldest goalscorer in the history of the Grigiorossi in Serie A and the oldest to have scored in this league. Ciofani has in AC Milan the only team against which he has both scored at least one goal and served at least one assist in the top flight: a goal and a winning pass donning the Frosinone shirt in the 2015/16 championship.

Tickets are available for AC Milan v Fiorentina: see you at San Siro!