Juventus vs Milan: Serie A Preview, Potential Lineups & Prediction

Allianz Stadium forms the backdrop for a massive, heavyweight Serie A encounter between bitter rivals Juventus and Milan on Sunday night. From the home side’s point of view, this is a ‘make or break’ clash, while the visitors need a avoid defeat to secure another top-four finish with a game to spare. 

Only a few days after suffering a heartbreaking Europa League exit at the hands of Sevilla, Juventus experienced another shock. Not long ago, they felt safe in believing they’ll be playing in next season’s Champions League after regaining their 15 docked Serie A points. However, everything fell apart last Monday. 

A new ruling by an Italian court left Juventus off guard, docking them ten points on the eve of their trip to Tuscany. Incredible scenes at Stadio Carlo Castellani later in the day saw Empoli add insult to injury, whipping the floor with Massimiliano Allegri’s side in a historic 4-1 triumph on home turf.

With five points separating them from fourth-placed Milan going into the penultimate round, Juventus cannot accept anything less than a victory if they’re to stand a chance in the Champions League qualification race. But last season’s champions have their top-four fate firmly in their hands following a 5-1 demolition of dead-last Sampdoria in the previous round.

Stefano Pioli’s men had high hopes for this season after arresting an 11-year Scudetto wait in 2021/22. Unfortunately, the title-defending campaign has gone sideways long ago. Milan thought they could be reaching the Champions League final for the first time since 2007, only to succumb to a woeful 3-0 aggregate defeat to arch-rivals Inter in the semi-finals.

But a third consecutive top-four finish could settle some nerves in the Rossoneri camp ahead of the summer transfer window. 

Match Preview

Juventus

The abovementioned humiliation at Empoli ended Juventus’ three-game winning streak in Serie A. However, as the joint-best home side in Italy’s top flight this season, the Bianconeri will fancy their chances against a Milan side they lost to 2-0 in the reverse fixture at the San Siro. That result forms part of the Turin giants’ underwhelming four-game winless league run against the Rossoneri (D2, L2). 

Coming into proceedings on the back of back-to-back defeats, Juventus stare down the barrel of a three-match losing streak in all competitions for the first time since 2011. Considering they’ve failed to score in their last two Serie A meetings with Milan (D1, L1), Allegri’s men may not be brimming with confidence on Sunday. 

Player to Watch: Federico Chiesa

After scoring a consolation goal at Empoli earlier this week, Chiesa is about to take on one of his favorite domestic rivals. The lightning-fast winger has tallied three goals and three assists against Milan in Serie A.

Milan

Unlike last season when they used to take points outside the San Siro for fun, Milan have massively underperformed on the road in 2022/23. As only the ninth-best away team in Serie A, Pioli’s troops have won just 33% of their league matches on hostile turf this term (W6, D6, L6) and are winless on their last three top-flight travels (D2, L1).

If they can defy their travel sickness, Milan could meet a flattering piece of history and record only their third Serie A double over Juventus in the past 50 years, last achieving that feat in 2009/10. Holding the Bianconeri winless would see the Rossoneri put together five consecutive league H2Hs without losing for the first time since 1992. Therefore, they should take the field highly motivated. 

Player to Watch: Olivier Giroud

After a six-match scoring drought in Serie A, Giroud notched up his first hat-trick for Milan against Sampdoria, taking his tally for the season to 11 goals. With two games left, the veteran striker could better his last season’s record of 11 top-flight strikes. 

Team News

Besides Kaio Jorge, who has spent the whole season on the sidelines, Juventus will be without Leonardo Bonucci, Mattia De Sciglio, Nicolo Fagioli, and Paul Pogba. 

Meanwhile, Milan cannot call upon Alessandro Florenzi, Ismael Bennacer, and Zlatan Ibrahimovic for this trip, though there’s a glimmer of hope that the former could at least make the matchday squad. 

Juventus vs Milan Potential Lineups

Juventus (3-5-1-1): Wojciech Szczesny; Federico Gatti, Gleison Bremer, Danilo; Federico Chiesa, Fabio Miretti, Manuel Locatelli, Adrien Rabiot, Filip Kostic; Angel Di Maria; Arkadiusz Milik. 

Milan (4-2-3-1): Mike Maignan; Davide Calabria, Fikayo Tomori, Malick Thiaw, Theo Hernandez; Sandro Tonali, Rade Krunic; Junior Messias, Brahim Diaz, Rafael Leao; Olivier Giroud. 

Juventus vs Milan Prediction

Last Monday’s calamity may have crippled the home side’s morale going into the season final as we back Milan to pick up a point at least and kick Juventus out of the top-four race ahead of the ultimate round.

Prediction: Draw

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