FROSINONE v AC MILAN: OPPONENT REVIEW

After the draw against Bologna at San Siro, Stefano Pioli's boys will try to quickly return to success starting with Saturday's away match at the Stirpe. The goal: to match a record that the Rossoneri haven't achieved in six years, when they won four of the first five matches of the 2018 league, remaining unbeaten in each of them (a draw completing the balance).

Despite AC Milan’s recent surges, the trip to Frosinone appears treacherous: Eusebio Di Francesco’s side have earned 20 of its 23 points in the Serie A at home in front of their fans – 87% of the total, a record in this Serie A but, AC Milan have never lost to Frosinone. On the other hand, after victories against Empoli and Udinese, AC Milan can win three away games in a row in the Serie A TIM for the first time since the period between September and October 2022 (against Sampdoria, Empoli, and Hellas Verona in that case).

VERTICAL PLAY, COUNTER-ATTACKS, AND ONE-ON-ONE: FROSINONE'S STRENGTH                                 Interestingly, the first matchday after the closure of the 2023/24 transfer window will see the two teams that have benefited the most from goals scored by newly acquired players who were not part of their squads last season: Frosinone have scored 23 goals with new acquisitions in this Serie A, while AC Milan have scored 21. From a tactical perspective, Frosinone are a very aggressive team out of possession (third for balls recovered in this Serie A – 56.7 on average per game, second only to Atalanta's 65.1 and Hellas Verona's 57.4) and immediately plays vertically once in possession of the ball (first for vertical passes in the current tournament – 170 per game, but AC Milan had already managed to keep the Ciociari below the average in the first leg).

Notably, Frosinone have already scored three goals on the counter-attack in this league, second only to Inter and Napoli (both with five). The Rossoneri must be cautious not to concede dangerous counter-attacks against Frosinone, as the Rossoneri are trying to reverse a trend that sees them at the top of the list of teams conceding the most shots from these situations in Serie A 2023/24 (17, on par with today's opponents). Finally, it will be important to maintain defensive focus in one-on-one situations, as Frosinone is the second team in this league for attempted dribbles: 425, surpassed only by Udinese.

THE SYMBOL OF YOUTH                                                                                                                                                                                      The symbol of Di Francesco's Frosinone is undoubtedly Matías Soulé, the top scorer for the Ciociari in the Serie A TIM with nine goals to his name, chasing the goal of reaching double figures, which would make him the first player ever to score at least 10 goals for Frosinone in a single Serie A season (joining Daniel Ciofani and Federico Dionisi, both in 2015/16, with nine each). Additionally, Soulé is one of only two players in this Serie A to have scored at least one goal from a free-kick, penalty, with his right foot, left foot, and header (the other being Dusan Vlahović). Extremely skilled not only in scoring but also in one-on-one situations, only Leroy Sané (74) has more successful dribbles than Soulé (69) in the top five European leagues currently. The duel on the flanks with Rafael Leão will be interesting: the two are among the only four players who have put their teammates on goal more than once following ball movements in this Serie A (19 for the Argentine and 15 for the Portuguese – joined by Leonardo Spinazzola with 18 and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia with 15). However, while the Rossoneri winger has already provided three successful passes from such actions; the Argentinian winger has yet to record one in the Serie A.

Alongside Soulé in the center of the Ciociari attack, Kaio Jorge seeks his fourth goal in the league after consecutive strikes against Cagliari and Hellas Verona, and one against Lecce in December. Together with the Argentine, the Brazilian striker could become only the second player capable of scoring in three consecutive matches for Frosinone in Serie A. The two South American forwards will pose the main threats to the Rossoneri defense and are undoubtedly the perfect faces of Di Francesco's carefree team, the youngest in Serie A in terms of the average age of the starters fielded so far (24 years and 162 days). They are indeed two of only five players born on or after January 1, 2002, who have scored at least three goals in this Serie A (the others being Zito Luvumbo, Lorenzo Colombo, and Lazar Samardzic).

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