January’s Serie A action closes out at the San Siro with a blockbuster encounter between Milan and Juventus. In other times, this mouth-watering showdown between the two heavyweights of Italian and European football would have had a significant bearing on the title race.
How the mighty have fallen, though. Juventus are investing utmost effort to break into the Serie A top-four for the first time this season following a dreadful start. But after going unbeaten in their last eight league matches, they finally look on course of recovering their mojo under Massimiliano Allegri.
The same cannot be said about Milan, who turned a 1-0 half-time lead into an underwhelming 2-1 defeat to Spezia last time out. With Inter’s hard-earned 2-1 win over newly-promoted Venezia on Saturday evening re-establishing a five-point cushion at the summit, the second-placed Rossoneri have no other option but to pursue all three points here.
The latest installment of one of the most famous rivalries in world football gives Milan slightly better chances of coming out on top. But if history has taught us anything, Juventus’ Serie A clashes against the Lombard side have been anything but predictable.
Embroiled in talks with Aston Villa over Rodrigo Bentancur’s switch to the Premier League (via Daily Mail), Juve are laying the foundations for a squad overhaul. That is unlikely to affect their current goal, which is to sink Milan’s Scudetto chances.
Milan vs Juventus Head-to-Head
Ante Rebic’s late equaliser cancelled out Alvaro Morata’s early deadlock-breaker to hand Milan a 1-1 draw at the Allianz Stadium earlier this season. So for the first time since 1991/92, the Rossoneri could draw both seasonal meetings with Juventus in Serie A, a result neither side would exactly benefit from at this point.
However, a stalemate is seemingly off the table, with none of Milan’s last nine top-flight home matches against the Bianconeri ending level (W3, L6). After suffering three defeats in their previous four league games against Juventus at home (W1), the hosts may not be unhappy to share the spoils this time around.
There is a piece of history for the taking here when it comes to head coach Stefano Pioli. After walking away from Turin with a point back in September, his Milan side could go unbeaten in both Serie A match-ups with Juventus in a single league campaign for the first time since 2009/10.
Milan Preview
The aforementioned loss to Spezia dented Milan’s Scudetto ambitions and halted a run of three Serie A wins in a row. Unfortunately, the Rossoneri cannot draw confidence from home comforts following their abysmal run of form at the San Siro.
Pioli’s men now face the prospect of losing back-to-back Serie A home fixtures for the first time since September 2019. That scenario would risk summoning devils from the past, as the last time they lost two top-flight home matches in a row, Marco Giampaolo was relieved of his managerial duties.
Worryingly, they have only won two of their last six home league outings (D2, L3), with one of those triumphs coming at the expense of dead-last Salernitana. Yet, you should not write Milan off even if they concede first here, given that they have only lost one out of three Serie A home games when shipping the opening goal this season (W1, D1).
Juventus Preview
Juventus have hit the ground running since a 1-0 home reverse to Atalanta in late November, picking up six wins in their subsequent eight Serie A matches (D2). Since five of those six victories yielded an identical 2-0 scoreline, scoring first would likely improve the visitors’ chances of grabbing all three points here.
Away from home, the record-time Italian champions have won four of their five Serie A fixtures (D1) since a 2-1 loss at Hellas Verona in October, notably scoring 2+ goals in each triumph. That run also includes a sensational, come-from-behind 4-3 win at Roma in their most recent league travel.
For those who doubt Allegri’s tactical approach – the ex-Milan manager has never lost a Serie A meeting with his Rossoneri counterpart Pioli, going unbeaten in all 15 of their previous H2Hs in the competition (W11, D4). That may change should Juve concede first here, as they have lost 57% of their Serie A games when falling behind this season.
Milan vs Juventus Predicted Lineups
Milan (4-2-3-1): Mike Maignan; Davide Calabria, Pierre Kalulu, Alessio Romagnoli, Theo Hernandez; Rade Krunic, Sandro Tonali; Alexis Saelemaekers, Brahim Diaz, Rafael Leao; Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
Juventus (4-4-2): Wojciech Szczesny; Luca Pellegrini, Matthijs de Ligt, Giorgio Chiellini, Danilo; Rodrigo Bentancur, Manuel Locatelli, Juan Cuadrado, Weston McKennie; Paulo Dybala, Alvaro Morata.