AC MILAN v SASSUOLO: FUN FACTS

The Rossoneri are back in front of their home crowd after three consecutive away matches in all competitions. Their 20th Serie A fixture pits Stefano Pioli's AC Milan against Alessio Dionisi's Sassuolo, two sides in search of redemption and eager to earn three points. On the eve of the match, scheduled for Sunday 29 at 12:30 CET at the San Siro, we present some facts about AC Milan v Sassuolo:

HISTORY AND NEW OPPORTUNITIES
The match scheduled for Sunday 29 January will be the 20th Serie A clash between AC Milan and Sassuolo: with the Rossoneri leading with 10 wins to six - three draws complete the total in the top flight. AC Milan have gone unbeaten in their last two matches against Sassuolo (1 win, 1 draw) without conceding a goal - the Rossoneri have never had three clean sheets in a row against the Neroverdi in the competition. After a 0-0 draw on 30 August, AC Milan and Sassuolo could draw two consecutive matches for the first time in Serie A. The most frequent scoreline between these two sides is 2-1 to AC Milan, the final of four meetings: the last was on 20 December 2020, opened by the fastest goal in Serie A history (Rafael Leão after six seconds).

LUNCHTIME KICK-OFF
The Week 20 match will be the first time the Rossoneri and Neroverdi have met in this time slot at San Siro. AC Milan have won all of their last five matches played at 12:30, keeping clean sheets in the most recent two (3-0 v Venezia and 1-0 v Sampdoria). Sassuolo, on the other hand, have won neither of their two Sunday lunch matches this season, failing to score in either.

GOAL DISTRIBUTION
AC Milan have scored four of their last seven Serie A home goals in the last quarter of an hour of play - out of the Rossoneri's first 15 home goals in this league none had come from the 70th minute onwards. On the one hand, only Inter and Lazio (13 both) have scored more goals than AC Milan in the first half-hour of the game in this competition (12), on the other, Sassuolo only have three in this half-hour - a negative record on a par with Sampdoria. The Rossoneri are the team that has scored the most goals following an offensive recovery (five), while the Emiliani are one of the four teams still without goals in these situations this season.

HOME FACTOR AND ANNIVERSARIES
Brahim Díaz's four goals this season have all come in home games: among Rossoneri players, only Leão (5) has scored more goals at San Siro than the Spaniard during the current campaign. Alexis Saelemaekers scored one of his four goals in the competition against Sassuolo on 20 December 2020 - the Belgian's only away goal in Serie A. Both Rade Krunić (4 October 2015 with Empoli) and Tommaso Pobega (27 September 2020 with Spezia) made their Serie A debut against Sassuolo.

COMPARISON OF THE DUG-OUTS
The Serie A head-to-head between Stefano Pioli and Alessio Dionisi is in perfect balance with one win on each side and one draw. Stefano Pioli has won seven of his 16 Serie A matches as coach against Sassuolo: three draws and six defeats complete the tally for the current Rossoneri coach.

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