Prediction: Milan vs Lazio

Verdict: Away win

Best odds: 11/8

Bookmaker: bet365

AC Milan and Lazio will take each other on on Sunday evening in a game that will conclude the 11th round of this season’s Serie A course. Once upon a time, and not so long ago, this encounter was considered among the great derbies of Italian football, but times have changed.

AC Milan

Though among the most successful clubs in the history of the game with 18 domestic and seven European titles, the Rossoneri have fallen on stony ground in recent years. It’s been a while since they last won the league (2010/11), and lately they haven’t been able even to finish among the top four and secure Champions League football. They came close last season, but still fell short.

Stefano Pioli, now in charge of the team, is their second managerial appointment this season, despite the campaign barely going past the quarter mark. The results they’ve knocked up have been fairly disappointing, which led to Marco Giampaolo being shown the door. At the moment, they are in 10th place with 13 points to their name, which is hardly fitting for a club of that size. They enter this clash on the back of a 1-0 win over SPAL, which could serve as a boost to an extent, but they will probably need a lot more than that to win this one.

Team News

Pioli won’t be able to count on the services of defender Mattia Caldera due to a knee injury, but the rest of the team should be at his full disposal. Krzysztof Piatek is likely to lead the line upfront, though the Polish striker badly needs to rediscover his true form.

Lazio

The situation is somewhat different when it comes to Lazio. They’ve never yet reached the heights Milan have in the past, and though they too have fallen from grace in recent years, their current form is very encouraging. They travel to Milan on the back of two consecutive Serie A victories, which have now helped them climb to fifth place with 18 points from the previous 10 rounds.

Last time out, they beat Torino by 4-0. Ciro Immobile struck twice in that game, bringing his total for the season to an incredible 12 goals from 10 games. It’s quite obvious that the striker is on fantastic form and Milan defenders will have a hard time trying to stop him. Only Atalanta have scored more goals in the league than Lazio.

Another interesting thing to note about Lazio’s games is that there have been no less than six red cards shown in those ten games.

Team News

Head coach Simone Inzaghi shouldn’t have any fresh injury concerns ahead of this match, but goalkeeper Silvio Proto and forward Ricardo Kishna remain unavailable for selection.

Conclusion

In short, Lazio shouldn’t have too much difficulty in booking another three points at San Siro on Sunday. Despite their record in that particular stadium not being great, it’ll mean little when they come to face this apparently not very settled Milan team. And it’ll probably be that man again, Immobile, who will make the difference in the favor of the visitors from Rome.

Verdict: Away win

Best odds: 11/8

Bookmaker: bet365