After the highs of midweek, AC Milan return to Serie A motion on Saturday night as they tackle Cagliari on the Unipol Domus.
Milan pulled off on Tuesday night time as they beat Actual Madrid 3-1 away from dwelling within the Champions League. Now, the problem is to seek out some consistency heading into the worldwide break, and maybe resume the discussions a few potential title problem.
Paulo Fonseca mentioned in that he’s really extra apprehensive about dealing with Cagliari than he was Actual Madrid as a result of he’s conscious of the differing ranges of motivation every opponents generate. Now the gamers should present him he had nothing to fret about.
Sport Date: Saturday, November 1Kick-off time: 20:45 (CET)Venue: U-Energy StadiumReferee: Ermanno Feliciani (VAR: Serra)
Group information
Earlier than the sport in opposition to Monza final weekend, Fonseca’s job gave the impression to be again on the road once more as there was reportedly a gathering between Fonseca and his superiors after the defeat in opposition to Napoli.
As Calciomercato.com reported, what emerged was that the coach , however now he has an opportunity to enter it with some critical momentum.
Cagliari have struggled to start out the season (extra on them shortly) whereas Inter play Napoli in a battle of the highest two, so the desk going into the November break might look way more rosy then it did every week prior.
Nonetheless, Milan should maintain enterprise in Sardinia. By way of harm information, there are some long-term absentees which might be nonetheless not out there for choice in Alessandro Florenzi and Ismael Bennacer, each of whom are nonetheless recovering from surgical procedure.
Matteo Gabbia has missed the previous few video games attributable to a difficult calf concern he acquired on Italy responsibility, and he won’t be a part of the sport, nor will Luka Jovic who continues to battle again issues.
Alvaro Morata suffered an harm in coaching on Thursday that required him to go to hospital for a CT scan after he collided heads with Strahinja Pavlovic, that means he won’t be out there.
Many believed Tammy Abraham or possibly even Noah Okafor would get the nod, however the coach has different plans. Fonseca confirmed that , getting his first Milan begin at 16 years, seven months and 29 days outdated.
Sky have predicted the remainder of the line-up, which includes a return to the 4-2-3-1 system after the profitable midweek experimentation with a five-man defence.
Mike Maignan needs to be in objective with Emerson Royal, Malick Thiaw, Strahinja Pavlovic and Theo Hernandez the again 4. Youssouf Fofana and Tijjani Reijnders are down because the double pivot.
Samuel Chukwueze is tipped to renew his place on the suitable facet of the assault, with Christian Pulisic the playmaker, Rafael Leao on the left and Camarda up entrance.
Predicted Milan XI (4-2-3-1): Maignan; Emerson Royal, Thiaw, Pavlovic, Theo Hernandez; Reijnders, Fofana; Chukwueze, Pulisic, Leao; Camarda.
The opponents
Final season was Cagliari’s first again within the prime flight after a quick stint in Serie B, they usually managed to remain above the dotted line – simply. They completed with 36 factors from 38 video games (eight wins, 12 attracts, 18 losses), which put them sixteenth however only one level above Frosinone within the final relegation place.
Claudio Ranieri left as head coach after doing his bit, with the Rossoblu turning to Davide Nicola to take over, previously of Genoa, Torino, Salernitana and Empoli.
It was clear after 2023-24 that funding within the squad was wanted to ensure a extra nice trip this season, however they spent €11.3m. Nadir Zortea (from Atalanta, €5m), Sebastiano Luperto (from Empoli, €3.5m) and Matt Felici (from Feralpisalo, €2m) had been the one notable additions.
Jose Luis Palomino got here on a free from Atalanta so as to add some expertise to the again line they usually additionally loaned Michel Adopo from the Bergamaschi. Gianluca Gaetano arrived on mortgage too, from Napoli.
The larger information was outgoings: Alberto Dossena went to Como for €8m, Ibrahim Sulemana joined Atalanta for €7.5m and Giorgio Altare headed to Venezia for €1m. Nahitan Nandez went to Al-Qadsiah in Saudi Arabia after his deal ran out.
After 11 video games in Serie A, Cagliari are precisely the place they completed final season (sixteenth) with 9 factors. Probably the most notable outcomes have been a 3-2 win in opposition to Torino, a 1-1 draw away at Juventus and a 3-2 win at Parma.
Sky report that Scuffet will likely be in objective with Zappa, Palomino, Luperto and Augello because the again 4. Marin and Makoumbou needs to be the midfield pairing, then Zortea, Gaetano and Luvumbo because the trident behind Piccoli.
Predicted Cagliari XI (4-2-3-1): Scuffet; Zappa, Palomino, Luperto, Augello; Marin, Makoumbou; Zortea, Gaetano, Luvumbo; Piccoli.
Face to face
Milan have performed in opposition to Cagliari 91 occasions of their virtually 125-year historical past, with 54 of the video games being wins and solely 9 defeats, that means 28 attracts.
Final season the Rossoneri really beat their opponents from Sardinia thrice, beginning with 3-1 victory away from dwelling within the league due to targets from Noah Okafor, Fikayo Tomori and Ruben Loftus-Cheek.
Early in January Stefano Pioli’s facet ran out 4-1 winners within the Coppa Italia too. Luka Jovic acquired a brace, Chaka Traore scored and so did Rafael Leao.
The triptych was accomplished in Might with a 5-1 dwelling win within the league. Ismael Bennacer, Christian Pulisic (x2), Tijjani Reijnders and Leao all netted.
Milan have misplaced only one aggressive recreation in opposition to Cagliari since October 1998, which was a 2-1 league defeat in 2017.
Key info and stats
➤ Cagliari have misplaced 47 out of 82 video games performed in opposition to AC Milan in Serie A, greater than in opposition to some other facet within the topflight (W8, D27)– the Rossoneri are additionally the opponent in opposition to which the Rossublù have the the bottom win share (9.76%) amongst these confronted greater than 12 occasions within the competitors.
➤ Cagliari have gained solely one among their final 39 matches in opposition to AC Milan in Serie A (D8, L30): 2-1 at dwelling on twenty eighth of Might 2017. Certainly, the Rossoneri have obtained eight wins of their final 9 matches in opposition to the Sardinian workforce within the topflight (D1), conceding solely three targets on this interval.
➤ Milan have scored in every of their final 13 away matches in opposition to Cagliari in Serie A (22 targets in whole, a mean of 1.7 per match); this run is the Rossoneri’s longest present streak of scoring in consecutive away video games in opposition to an opponent (13).
➤ Milan have stored a clear sheet in 4 of their final seven Serie A video games – as many occasions as within the earlier 17 video games performed within the competitors – scoring 12 targets and conceding 5 on this interval.
➤ Milan gained their final away recreation in Serie A (1-0 vs Monza) and will file two away wins in a row with out conceding in a single top-flight marketing campaign for the primary time since March 2022 (two in that case too, the second of which was in opposition to Cagliari).
➤ Cagliari have conceded no less than two targets in seven of their final eight Serie A video games, delivery 17 targets in whole; fewer than solely Hellas Verona (21) on this interval. Moreover, no workforce have extra video games with no less than two targets conceded in Serie A this time period (seven like Genoa, Hellas Verona and Venezia).
➤ Cagliari have failed to attain in 4 of their six dwelling matches performed in Serie A 24/25, together with the final one (2-0 vs Bologna), whereas scoring solely 4 targets on this interval; general, solely Empoli have had extra dwelling matches with out discovering the online (5) and scored fewer targets (zero) than the Rossoblù at dwelling on this marketing campaign.
➤ Milan have scored the very best share of their targets within the first half on this Serie A (11/17, 65%) whereas alternatively, solely Genoa and Lecce (each two) have scored fewer targets than Cagliari (4) within the first half of the present marketing campaign.
➤ Zito Luvumbo scored his first objective in a Serie A house match in opposition to AC Milan, within the 3-1 defeat on twenty seventh of September 2023 at Unipol Domus. After his objective in opposition to Lazio within the final match, the Rossoblù striker might rating in two matches in a row within the competitors for the primary time in his profession.
➤ Christian Pulisic scored his solely brace in Serie A in opposition to Cagliari, doing so within the 5-1 win by the Rossoneri on the Meazza, in Might 2024. Generally, in opposition to no different workforce has the American been concerned in additional targets in Serie A (three versus Cagliari – additionally in opposition to Monza).
Ones to observe
In Milan’s case the participant that everyone will likely be watching with curiosity is in fact Camarda in his first senior begin, however Leao must do his bit to construct on the Actual Madrid efficiency and assist {the teenager} by way of.
Thiaw was glorious in midweek and Reijnders continued his sensible kind so they are going to be essential down the backbone, although in defence it’s Emerson in opposition to Luvumbo which appears to be like just like the hardest duel on paper.
Luperto and Palomino are the skilled centre-back pairing that Cagliari can name upon to try to make Camarda’s night a tricky one, whereas Marin was linked with Milan earlier than and is a dynamic midfield presence.
Piccoli will lead the road and he has a few targets within the league thus far, as does Marin, but it surely has typically been a battle for the Rossoblu in assault.
Prediction
Given how strongly Milan have carried out on this fixture and the enhance they need to take from the win over Actual Madrid, this merely needs to be three factors to try to generate a constructive spin going into the break for as soon as.
Cagliari 0-2 Milan