AC MILAN

League position: 2nd
Head coach: Stefano Pioli
Serie A top scorer: Rafael Leao (seven)

RECENT FORM

MILAN: W W D W W
ROMA: W L D D W

The reigning Italian champions have enjoyed a good start to their title defence and have lost just twice all season; placing them second after Pioli’s side restarted their campaign with a 2-1 victory over Salernitana in the week.

That leaves Milan just five points behind leaders Napoli following the Partenopei's first slip up of the campaign and they’ve already strengthened in January with the addition of Colombian goalkeeper Denis Vasquez.

Jose Mourinho’s Roma also celebrated 2023 by collecting all three points at the first attempt as Lorenzo Pellegrini’s penalty saw off Bologna on Wednesday.

That places the Giallorossi in sixth and well placed to make a run on the outside at a top-four place, with those hopes very much boosted by the full return to fitness of top-scorer Paulo Dybala.

Possible Milan line-up

(4-2-3-1)

Tatarusanu; Calabria, Kalulu, Tomori, Hernandez; Bennacer, Tonali; Saelemaekers, Brahim, Leao; Giroud

LAST MEETING

DANGER MAN
Rafael Leao

Most in Serie A would have been left surprised by the Portugal international’s role as a sub in his country’s run to the World Cup quarter-finals this year, with Leao widely-regarded as one of the most exciting players not only in the league but across the continent.

The 23-year-old still managed two goals in just 83 minutes of football in Qatar and Leao took just 10 minutes to score on his return to domestic duties at Salernitana.

Full of pace, trickery and boasting seven league goals to go with his four assists; Leao will pose Roma’s backline a serious threat from the Milan left.

He is the perfect foil for centre-forward Olivier Giroud, forming part of a highly-mobile supporting cast for the age-defying France international alongside the likes of Brahim Diaz and Alexis Saelemaekers.

MATCH STATS

Milan are currently on a run of five games without defeat to Roma (W4, D1), and the Rossoneri have claimed victory in each of the previous three meetings between the two sides.

Mourinho’s team have been excellent on their travels so far this term and Roma are unbeaten in their last five games on the road in the league (W4, D1).

In fact, only league-leading Napoli (19) have collected more away points in Serie A than Roma (17) so far in 2022/23.

There have been goals in each of the last 15 league fixtures between these two, with the most recent goalless draw dating all the way back to Matchday 16 of the 2014-15 campaign at the Stadio Olimpico on 20 December 2014.

PLAYER STATS

• The Milan trio of Alessandro Florenzi, Simon Kjaer and Antonio Mirante all once played in the famous yellow and red of Roma.
  
• The win over Bologna was Bryan Cristante’s 100th as a Roma player in all competitions, meaning he has tasted more Giallorossi victories than any other teammate since he joined the club.
  
• Cristante is one of four Roma players to have started every league game in 2022-23. The others are goalkeeper Rui Patricio and centre-backs Roger Ibanez and Gianluca Mancini.
  
• Pellegrini’s spot-kick against Bologna was his fifth of the campaign in all competitions; he has successfully converted four and missed just one.

WHAT THEY SAID

“We had a good game, but there are many situations in which we can still improve. We started well but we weren’t able to kill the match earlier.

“It was important to win, though. We knew we had been working well, although some friendlies didn’t go the way we wanted. But it’s just a little step we needed to take to move toward bigger goals.”

- Milan boss Pioli after the midweek win over Salernitana