AC MILAN

League position: 2nd
Head coach: Stefano Pioli
Serie A top-scorer: Zlatan Ibrahimovic (14)

RECENT FORM

Roma: L W W D W
Milan: W L D L D

The Giallorossi remain the sole unbeaten home team remaining in Serie A this season and have collected the most points (30) of any of the 20 sides in the league from their 12 matches at the Olimpico (W9, D3).

All in, Roma’s current top-flight home record actually stands at 16 games without a loss (W12, D4), which is their longest such sequence avoiding defeat on home soil since their 24-match run in 2017.

Milan quite possibly pose the biggest threat so far to their hosts’ unbeaten streak, however, as the Rossoneri top the table when it comes to away games with 28 points on their travels this term.

Pioli’s side have suffered a bit of a blip recently, though, and have lost lost their last two without scoring in the league - including the 3-0 humbling in the Derby della Madonnina last weekend - while they scraped through to the last-16 of the Europa League via away goals onThursday after two draws with Red Star Belgrade.

A third league defeat on the spin without finding the back of the net would be their first such trio of losses since April 1967.

LAST MEETING

DANGER MAN
Zlatan Ibrahimovic

Ibrahimovic was a second half substitute in the 1-1 draw with Red Star in midweek but is expected to return to the starting line-up to face Roma on Sunday, via his anticipated appearance at the Sanremo Music festival.

It’s a commitment that will see the evergreen Swede miss some training sessions with Milan this week and has raised eyebrows due to its timing in the middle of a campaign that sees the red side of the Lombardy capital fighting over the title with their blue neighbours.

Roma are far from out of it themselves and this meeting could ultimately have an impact on where both teams end up come the final matchday of 2020-21.

Having gone two games without scoring in the league, plus the question marks over his scheduling, and the importance of this fixture; Ibrahimovic’s role in Sunday’s fixture will make for compelling viewing with his place on the throne in Milan under threat.

MATCH STATS

Following the 3-3 draw in the reverse, Roma and Milan could draw both meetings in a Serie A season for the first time since 1999-00.

If they can add to the 2-1 victory over Milan on their most recent visit, Roma will chalk up their first back-to-back home league wins over the Rossoneri since 2003.

No side has scored more penalties than Milan (10) and Roma (six) in 2020-21, with the former converting four out of their 10 spot-kicks with the scores level at 0-0 - double the amount of the next highest on the list.

There have been 12 games between these two since the last 0-0 draw, which came at the Olimpico in December 2014.

PLAYER STATS

• Jordan Veretout is one goal away from hitting 10 in Serie A this season, which would make him the first French midfielder to score 10+ goals in one of Europe’s top-five leagues Top-5 since 2018-19.
  
• Edin Dzeko has now gone six league games without a goal - his longest Serie A dry spell since January 2019 - but he has scored in each of his last two starts, which were the Europa League victories over Braga.
  
• Francesco Totti is this Serie A fixture’s highest scorer in history, with 11 goals.
  
• No player in Serie A has more assists going into Matchday 24 than Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Hakan Calhanoglu (8).
  
• Bryan Cristante began his career with Milan and made a total of five appearances for the club, while Stephan El Shaarawy previously featured on 102 occasions in red and black.

WHAT THEY SAID

"The team is mentally mature, it is clear that we are not in our best moment. The positive results gave us confidence, a little something went wrong. We had a tough game, we are disappointed we didn't do a better job of managing the contest, but it was is important to pass the round against an opponent who created difficulties for us."

- Milan coach Stefano Pioli after Thursday's draw with Red Star