Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Prediction: AC Milan vs Sassuolo

Veselin Trajkovic in Free Soccer Predictions 28 Jan 2023

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Verdict: Olivier Giroud to score

Best odds: 23/20

Bookmaker: Unibet

The race for the title in the Serie A isn’t that close anymore, but AC Milan will surely be looking to keep hold of that last thread of hope when they welcome struggling Sassuolo to the San Siro on Sunday, in the 20th round of the league campaign.

AC Milan

The Rossoneri will also be looking to avoid a string of six games without winning, something that hasn’t happened in the last five years. Their last-six run begins with their last victory to date, the 1-2 win away to Salernitana at the end of the year. Since then, they drew 2-2 at home against AS Roma, lost 0-1 at home to Torino in the round of 16 of the Coppa Italia, drew 2-2 away to Lecce, lost the Supercoppa Italiana to city rivals Inter by 0-3, and suffered an utter hammering away to Lazio earlier this week, losing 4-0.

Sergej Milinkovic-Savic hit the first punch less than four minutes from kick-off, Mattia Zaccagni added the second in the 38th, Luis Alberto was accurate from the spot in the 57th, and Felipe Anderson put the finishing touch in the 75th. It was a complete night to forget from Stefano Pioli’s men.

Napoli have obviously taken advantage of Milan’s recent poor run of form to build up a huge lead in the title race, sitting pretty at the top at the moment with 50 points on the board, while the Rosseneri have no more than 38. What’s more, Milan will now be looking anxiously over their shoulder too, with the trio of Lazio, Inter and Roma all on 37, and sixth-place Atalanta not far either with 35. The title is all but gone, and now it seems that finishing in the top four won’t be easy either.

Team News

Defender Fikayo Tomori suffered an injury and was forced off the pitch against Lazio and is presumed unavailable for this game. Goalkeeper Mike Maignan, fullback Alessandro Florenzi and striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic remain out too. Midfielder Ismael Bennacer is suspended.

On the other hand, left-backs Theo Hernandez and Fode Ballo-Toure have both returned to training this week, and right-back Davide Calabria is fit after a calf scare.

With no Maignan, the place between the posts will be taken by Ciprian Tatarusanu. Simon Kjaer will take Tomori’s place alongside Pierre Kalulu in the heart of defence, with Hernandez and Calabria protecting the flanks. Rade Krunic should be the one to step into the midfield instead of Bennacer and play next to Sandro Tonali. Further up, the trio of Brahim Diaz, Rafael Leao and Alexis Saelemaekers is expected to provide support for striker Olivier Giroud.

Sassuolo

Sassoulo have established themselves as a regular presence in the middle section of the Serie A table over the last couple of years, but this term they haven’t done as well so far, being currently much closer to the relegation zone than they would’ve liked. They are 17th with 17 points, with nothing but a five-point gap between them and the red zone, consisting of Verona (12 points), Sampdoria (9) and Cremonese (8). It should, on the other hand, be said that places 11 and 12, currently occupied by Juventus and Fiorentina, six points away, with Monza (22), Salernitana (21), Lecce (20) and Spezia (18) placed in between. It should also be said that Salernitana, Lecce and Spezia have already played 20 Serie A matches apiece.

Sassuolo’s last-six run of competitive games stretches back to before the World Cup, starting with the 1-1 draw at home against Roma on November 9th and including the 3-0 defeat away to Bologna three days later. After the tournament in Qatar, they suffered a disappointing 1-2 home loss to Sampdoria, lost 2-1 away to Fiorentina, 0-2 away to Lazio, and drew 1-1 at home against Monza. Their winless run now consists of eight consecutive matches – a painfully poor run of form that, in all honesty, doesn’t look like being brought to a halt just yet.

Their hopes of doing so against Monza were dashed in the second half when Gianluca Caprari cancelled out the early lead Gian Marco Ferrari had given them.

Team News

Head coach Alessio Dionisi won’t be able to call upon goalkeeper Andrea Consigli and striker Andrea Pinamonti through injury, and there is also concern about left-back Rogerio who has picked up a shoulder problem.

Veteran Gianluca Pegolo should be the man standing in for Consigli between the posts again. At the back, captain Ferrari will probably be joined by Martin Erlic in the centre-back role, with Jeremy Toljan on the right. On the left, if Rogerio’s shoulder keeps him out, Dionisi will pick between Georgios Kyriakopoulos and Riccardo Marchizza. Davide Fratessi and Maxime Lopez are set to pair up in the middle of the park. Agustin Alvarez should be the man leading the attacking line, with Domenico Berardi, Hamed Traore and Armand Lauriente just behind.

Conclusion

As has been said, Sassuolo are unlikely to break the string of bad results at San Siro, and Giroud, who has now gone five Serie A matches without scoring but never six, is likely the man to bring them down.

Verdict: Olivier Giroud to score

Best odds: 23/20

Bookmaker: Unibet

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Veselin Trajkovic


Vesko is a football writer that likes to observe the game for what it is, focusing on teams, players and their roles, formations, tactics, rather than stats. He follows the English Premier League closely, Liverpool FC in particular. His articles have been published on seven different football blogs.

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