Overview
Meeting for the second time in just five days, Milan and Lazio played again in midweek to compete for a place in the quarter-finals of the national cup.
Last weekend, the Rossoneri won 1-0 in a tense match at San Siro to return to the top of Serie A, although they were immediately vengeured by Lazio in Rome.
Mattia Zaccagni's late goal at Olimpico decided the game and caused the runner-up last season to stop at the tournament they won more than 20 years ago.
However, Milan's form in Serie A is still very impressive. They are unbeaten in 12 consecutive matches since their shocking defeat to Cremonese on the opening day, while keeping a clean sheet in 7 matches. The last time Massimiliano Allegri's team conceded a goal was in early November, and they are showing the image of a true championship candidate.
Before aiming to defend the Supercoppa Italia title at the end of this month, Rossoneri need to win all points in two encounters with the teams in the middle of the group, Sassuolo and Torino.
However, Milan entered the match against Torino with a certain caution. After a 1-2 defeat to Turin in February, they have lost 2 of their last 3 confrontations with this opponent, having won 6/8 matches before.
Since the 0-7 defeat in 2020-21, Torino have won all 3 of their most recent home matches against Milan. That means the Turin team is facing the opportunity for the first time since 1949 to win 4 consecutive victories against Rossoneri.
However, the current form of the two teams suggests another scenario. Torino have gone 5 consecutive matches without knowing the taste of victory and just lost to Lecce in the previous round. The 1-2 defeat at via del Mare became even more bitter when Che Adams had a group of hopes with an equalizer, but Kristjan Asllani could not take advantage of the penalty in extra time.
Although they have not been classified as red-light subjects, Torino's points are currently only 14 - their lowest tally at the moment in the last 5 seasons. What makes Marco Baroni most worried is his defensive system.
Torino currently have the worst defense in Serie A, conceding an average of 1.77 goals per match. Up front, their scoring ability is only modest and not enough to make up for their mistakes in the back line.
Personnel situation
Without a European Cup schedule, Allegri fielded a team that was almost at its strongest in Milan's defeat to Lazio in Coppa Italia, despite key figure Luka Modric and number one striker Christian Pulisic only coming off the bench.
Both are likely to return to the Rossoneri starting lineup. In midfield, Youssouf Fofana is absent due to a closed muscle injury, so Samuele Ricci or Ruben Loftus-Cheek will pair Modric and Adrien Rabiot. Santiago Gimenez (fishing eye) and Zachary Athekame ( calf) also continue to be out.
Since his first start in Serie A this season in round 7, Rafael Leao has scored 5 goals as a striker. Statistics show that the Portuguese star has shot more but has made fewer familiar dribbles than before.
While Leao and Pulisic are almost certain to lead the away team, Torino suffered when losing key striker Giovanni Simeone.
In that context, Che Adams could pair up with Duvan Zapata - who scored in both of his last two matches against Milan.
As well as Simeone, Ardian Ismajli's ability to play is still uncertain. However, Ivan Ilic seems to have recovered from a knee injury and can be on the bench.
Expected lineup:
Torino: Israel, Tameze, Maripan, Coco, Pedersen, Casadei, Asllani, Vlasic, Lazaro, Adams, Zapata.
AC Milan: Maignan, Tomori, Gabbia, Pavlovic, Saelemaekers, Ricci, Modric, Rabiot, Bartesaghi, Pulisic, Leao.
The match between Torino and AC Milan takes place at 2:45 am on December 9 (Vietnam time).
