SALERNITANA v AC MILAN: FUN FACTS

Serie A is ready to return 52 days after the last match was played: 13 November was the date of the last fixture before the long break. Salernitana v AC Milan is the match that - at the same time as Sassuolo v Sampdoria - will kick things off on Matchday 16. The kick-off is set for 12.30 CET, and while we wait for it, we offer you some trivia related to this fixture.

LUNCH TIME KICK OFF
The match's 12.30 CET kick-off time has recently smiled on the Rossoneri. AC Milan have won five of their last six matches played at lunchtime, always on a Sunday: the last one was on 13 February 2022 against Sampdoria, but in 2022 also at the Penzo against Venezia (0-3 on 9 January). In 2021, a 2-1 win against Genoa (18 April) and a draw against the other Genoese side, Sampdoria (1-1 on 3 April). Going back to 2020, two matches against Udinese were played at 12.30pm, and both times the Rossoneri won: 3-2 at San Siro on 19 January, 2-1 at the Dacia Arena on 1 November. The Salerno fixture, the first in 2023, will be an atypical midweek lunchtime match: it will be played on a Wednesday in the hope of keeping the good form going. Since their return to Serie A in the 2021/22 season, however, Salernitana have played two matches at 12:30: a 2-1 victory at the Arechi against Fiorentina on 24 April and a 2-0 away defeat against Inter on 16 October.

AWAY TROUBLE
Rossoneri away performances have been one of their strengths in recent seasons, but their last two league appearances away from San Siro have produced a defeat (2-1 in Turin, Torino's Granata side) and a draw (0-0 at the Zini in Cremona). The last time the Rossoneri failed to find the three points in multiple consecutive away matches in the competition was in April 2019 (4), while it is since December 2018 that AC Milan have not scored in two consecutive away matches. Salernitana, on the other hand, have a positive performance at the Arechi: 2 wins and 1 draw in their last 3 matches, overall in the season 3 wins, 2 draws and 2 defeats.

FIRST OF THE YEAR
The first outing of the calendar year has often been a winning one of recent: five of the last six 'maiden' matches have seen AC Milan win and - in all five cases - keep a clean sheet. In 2022, on 6 January to be precise, the Rossoneri beat Roma 3-1 at San Siro. Salernitana, for its part, has never drawn in the first match of the new calendar year in Serie A (2W, 4L), winning the most recent one, on 9 January 2022 against Verona at the Bentegodi.

THE LEÃO FACTOR
Rafa joined his teammates after the tour in Dubai and set foot on the pitch again in the friendly in Eindhoven on 30 December. In 2022, his contribution was tangible as he was the player who contributed to the most goals in Serie A in 2022: 24, 13 goals and 11 assists. Before him, only two Rossoneri had done better: Kaká in 2008 (27) and Ibra in 2020 (26). Leão was also the only Serie A player to go into double figures in both goals and assists in the 2022 calendar year. After scoring in the last league game against Fiorentina, the Portuguese can go on the scoresheet in two Serie A matches in a row for the first time since September 2021. And it was he who decided the Rossoneri's last lunch match against Samp...

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