One of the traditional fixtures in Serie A comes up on Saturday as champions AC Milan host Juventus.
It has not been the smoothest title defence for AC Milan who are currently outside the Champions League places. The good news is that Stefano Pioli’s men have lost just once in Serie A this season and are only three points off the pace.
The last few weeks have been particularly difficult for AC Milan with just one win in the last three matches across all competitions. Yes, they won 3-2 at Empoli last time out in Serie A but suffered a 2-1 defeat to Napoli in their previous home fixture before losing 3-0 at Chelsea in the Champions League in midweek.
One of the major problems for AC Milan is that their injury problems continue to pile up as the season progresses. Zlatan Ibrahimovic is yet to feature this term while the likes of Mike Maignan, Theo Hernandez, Junior Messias, Alexis Saelemaekers and Davide Calabria are all nursing injuries.
Juventus have also found things difficult this season and are not looking like title challengers at the moment. They are currently outside the European places having claimed just three wins from eight matches so far.
A small positive for Juventus is that a tweak in system from manager Massimiliano Allegri appears to be yielding some results. Playing a 4-4-2 system with Arkadiusz Milik and Dusan Vlahovic up top has seen Juventus win their last two matches. They thrashed Bologna 3-0 in their previous Serie A fixture before winning 3-1 at home to Maccabi Haifa in the Champions League.
The next problem that needs sorting for Juventus is their poor away form as they are yet to claim a win on the road this season. However, with draws at Sampdoria and Fiorentina among their results in the last three away matches, they will head to the San Siro with some hope.
How the bookies view it
AC Milan have the upper hand among the bookies and are priced at 22/19 by SBK to claim the win. A victory for Juventus is valued at 27/10 by Unibet while a draw is set at odds of 5/2 by bet365.
Recent head to head
Recent matches between AC Milan and Juventus have been closely fought with one win each from their last four meetings. Both teams battled to a draw in their two meetings last season, playing out 1-1 in Turin before settling for a 0-0 scoreline at the San Siro.
Players to watch
Rafael Leao often carries the attacking threat for AC Milan and will be the one to watch on Saturday. The forward has four goals in seven Serie A matches and is priced at 11/4 by bet365 to get on the score sheet.
Dusan Vlahovic appears to be enjoying playing with a strike partner and could be worth keeping an eye on for Juventus. The striker has found the net in his last two matches and is priced at 9/4 by Paddy Power to maintain his scoring run.
Anything else catch the eye?
Despite unconvincing campaigns, AC Milan and Juventus have maintained their attacking quality and both teams could be backed to score at 10/11 with William Hill. Both teams have seen more goals after the break in recent weeks, so the second half could be tipped as the highest scoring half at 6/5 with Paddy Power.
AC Milan and Juventus produced a half time draw in their last meeting and could be set for a repeat at 11/10 with bet365.
This Serie A match between AC Milan and Juventus will be played on Oct 8, 2022 and kick off at 17:00. Check below for our tipsters best AC Milan vs Juventus prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
