Two clubs who have had contrasting starts to the Serie A season meet at San Siro on Sunday evening as third-placed Milan entertain 17th-placed Fiorentina.
Max Allegri’s first game in charge of his second spell at Milan didn’t exactly go to plan, as he saw his side suffer a surprise 1-2 defeat at home to newly-promoted Cremonese.
However, the Italian saw his new side bounce back by winning each of their next four Serie A contests, including a notable 2-1 victory at home to reigning champions Napoli.
Allegri would’ve been frustrated that his side played out a goalless draw in Turin against his former club Juventus, with Christian Pulisic missing a penalty for the Rossoneri, and Rafa Leao guilty of missing a couple of golden chances.
Stefano Pioli is another man in charge of his second spell at a club in Serie A, with the Fiorentina head coach returning to Florence, but it’s been a nightmare start for him.
La Viola are winless in each of their opening six Serie A contests this season (W0-D3-L3), with their 1-2 defeat at home to Roma last time out being their third loss in their last four matches, leaving them outside the relegation zone only on goal difference.
How the bookies view it: Milan favourites
It’s no surprise to see Milan as favourites for this clash, with BoyleSports pricing a home success at just 8/15.
Fiorentina are 9/2 underdogs to claim their first Serie A win of the season with the same firm, whilst the draw is 14/5.
Head to head: Viola advantage last term
This is a fixture Fiorentina came out on top in last season, as they defeated the Rossoneri 2-1 in Florence, before playing out a 2-2 draw at the San Siro in April.
Players to watch: Alexis to have the key?
With top-scorer Christian Pulisic missing, Milan will look to the likes of Alexis Saelemaekers to create chances against Fiorentina on Sunday. The Belgian international has three goal involvements in his last five appearances for Milan – including scoring the opening goal in their victory over Napoli in their previous home match – and is an appealing 6/4 at Bet365 to Score or Assist on Sunday night.
Predicted line-ups:
Max Allegri is unable to call upon the injured Adrien Rabiot and Christian Pulisic, but Pervis Estupinan, Alexis Saelemaekers and Rafael Leao are expected to be fit.
Tariq Lamptey and Christian Kouame will definitely be out for the visitors, but Robin Gosens and Moise Kean should be available.
Milan: Maignan, Tomori, Gabbia, Pavlovic, Saelemaekers, Loftus-Cheek, Modric, Fofana, Estupinan, Gimenez, Leao
Fiorentina: De Gea, Pongracic, Mari, Ranieri, Dodo, Mandragoa, Caviglia, Gossns, Fazzini, Gudmundsson, Kean
Anything else catch the eye?
As alluded to, Milan have bounced back from that surprise home defeat to Cremonese on the opening day of the season by taking 13 points from their next five matches (W4-D1-L0).
The Rossoneri have conceded a solitary strike in that five-game run – against leaders Napoli – with all four of those victories featuring fewer than five goals, and a repeat pays 5/6 at Coral/Ladbrokes.
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