Sunday’s Serie A action gets underway at the San Siro as third-placed Milan entertain bottom-half Sampdoria in a must-win fixture. Inter’s 1-1 draw at Napoli on Saturday handed the Rossoneri a long-awaited opportunity to take control at the summit, at least briefly.
Inter could still retain their place at the top of the Serie A table as they have a game in hand on Milan and Napoli. However, this seems to be a golden opportunity for Stefano Pioli’s team to prove their Scudetto credentials.
After coming from behind to beat the Nerazzurri 2-1 in last weekend’s Derby della Madonnina, the Rossoneri should welcome relegation-battling Sampdoria in high spirits. But despite their visitors’ current position in the standings, Milan can ill-afford to underestimate Marco Giampaolo’s side here.
Sampdoria currently languish only three points clear of 18th-placed Cagliari. So they will likely fight tooth and nail to avoid defeat here and build on their decent H2H record at Milan of late.
Milan vs Sampdoria Head-to-Head
Milan have won two of their previous five Serie A home meetings with Sampdoria (D2, L1), drawing the last two in a row. It is also worth mentioning that the Rossoneri netted one goal or less four times during that five-game sequence.
But Brahim Diaz’s ninth-minute strike at Luigi Ferraris handed Pioli’s side a narrow 1-0 victory in the reverse fixture, presenting Milan with an opportunity to register their first Serie A double over La Samp since the 2015/16 season.
Sampdoria have only lost more Serie A matches to Inter (70) than they had against Milan (66). That alone could be enough to bolster the home team’s confidence going into this showdown.
Milan Preview
Even though they will take the field as odds-on favourites, Milan will have to defy their abysmal home form of late, with no win from their last two Serie A outings at the San Siro (D1, L1). Another failed attempt to land three points would see the Rossoneri go three home league games without winning for the first time since a run of four in April 2021.
Ominously, though, a 1-1 draw with Sampdoria bookended that streak. On the bright side, however, Milan have clocked up 52 Serie A points so far this season, having this many in a three-points-per-win era on just three occasions in the past. Twice in those three seasons, they eventually won the title.
Olivier Giroud, who single-handedly tore Inter apart last time out, has tallied seven Serie A goals this season, all of which came at the San Siro. Regardless of how this season would end for the veteran striker, it’s fair to say that he already broke the ‘No9 jinx’ at Milan.
Sampdoria Preview
After winning two of their three Serie A away fixtures between November and December (L1), Sampdoria have gone winless in their last three league travels (D1, L2), losing the last two in a row by the same 1-0 scoreline. Another scoring blank would see them fail to score in three consecutive Serie A road trips for the first time since May 2018.
However, Giampaolo’s side put Sassuolo to the sword last time out, cruising to an overwhelming 4-0 victory in front of attending home fans. La Samp could now win back-to-back Serie A games for the first time since November. Meanwhile, a potential shutout would see them register two league clean sheets on the trot for the first time since May 2021.
Antonio Candreva rolled back the years against Sassuolo, tallying a goal and two assists to inspire Sampdoria to a clear-cut win. The experienced midfielder has seven goals and as many assists under his belt this Serie A campaign, showing age is just a number in his case.
Milan vs Sampdoria Predicted Lineups
Milan (4-2-3-1): Mike Maignan; Davide Calabria, Pierre Kalulu, Alessio Romagnoli, Fikayo Tomori; Sandro Tonali, Franck Kessie; Alexis Saelemaekers, Brahim Diaz, Rafael Leao; Olivier Giroud.
Sampdoria (4-4-2): Emil Audero; Nicola Murru, Omar Colley, Alex Ferrari, Bartosz Bereszynski; Stefano Sensi, Albin Ekdal, Morten Thorsby, Antonio Candreva; Francesco Caputo, Sebastian Giovinco.