Overview
After a lackluster goalless draw against Juventus last weekend, AC Milan's Serie A championship dream officially ended. Now, Rossoneri's real goal is to compete for a UEFA Champions League spot.
After a period of instability with four defeats in 7 matches, Milan somewhat regained balance when defeating Hellas Verona and drawing Juventus. However, worrying signs are still present.
Goal efficiency has declined significantly as they have only averaged under one goal per game in the last 9 rounds, amid the decline in form of Rafael Leao and Christian Pulisic.
Under Massimiliano Allegri's pragmatic philosophy, Milan only makes an average of 13.3 shots per game - the second lowest number for them in the last 20 Serie A seasons.
Currently in third place when the season is only 4 rounds away, Milan is still under great pressure from chasing opponents such as Como and AS Roma, when the gap is only 6 points.
On the positive side, Milan has kept a clean sheet in 2 consecutive matches, raising the total number of "empty nets" to 15 after 34 rounds - the best achievement in this period since 2012, in Allegri's first term.
Despite often encountering difficulties when hosting Sassuolo at San Siro, Milan has an impressive away record against this opponent, being undefeated in the last eight times and winning 6 matches at Mapei in the past decade.
However, Sassuolo is showing positive form. After drawing 0-0 with Fiorentina in the most recent round, they have only lost 2 in the last 8 matches in Serie A, completely opposite to the previous period when they only won 2 points after 9 matches.
The Emilia region team also played brightly with 23 points in the last 13 matches - the fifth best achievement in the league - thereby soon completing the relegation target and affirming the position of Serie B champion last season.
Currently ranked 10th, Fabio Grosso's team aims to close the season in the upper half of the table. Before welcoming Milan at Reggio Emilia, Sassuolo has won 5 of their last 7 home matches, creating considerable confidence.
Personnel situation
The draw between AC Milan and Juventus left a big loss when Luka Modric suffered a serious facial injury and will have to rest for the rest of the Serie A season. In that context, Samuele Ricci and Ardon Jashari are competing for a starting spot to replace the Croatian midfielder in the upcoming match.
In addition to this loss, Massimiliano Allegri almost has full force, especially with the return of key defender Matteo Gabbia after a period of injury treatment. Gabbia's presence is important. When he takes the field, Milan only loses 4% of matches in the domestic league this season, while the failure rate skyrockets to 50% if they are missing him in the starting lineup.
On Sassuolo's side, Domenico Berardi continues to be a noteworthy name every time they face Milan. This striker has scored 11 goals in 19 encounters with Milan in Serie A, including his explosive performance with 4 goals in January 2014.
Berardi's return after a 2-match suspension is considered a major boost for Sassuolo, although that may cause Cristian Volpato to give up a position in the starting lineup.
Expected lineup:
Sassuolo: Turati, Walukiewicz, Muharemovic, Idzes, Garcia, Kone, Matic, Thorstvedt, Berardi, Pinamonti, Lauriente.
AC Milan: Maignan, Tomori, Gabbia, Pavlovic, Saelemaekers, Fofana, Ricci, Rabiot, Estupinan, Pulisic, Leao.
The match between Sassuolo and AC Milan takes place at 8:00 p.m. on May 3 (Vietnam time).
