Stadio San Siro varieties the backdrop for a large, heavyweight Serie A showdown between everlasting rivals AC Milan and Juventus.
For individuals who get pleasure from , Saturday’s encounter in Lombardy guarantees to ship an thrilling affair between acquainted foes searching for much-needed factors.
With taking inventory of his ‘Donald Trump’ celebration, Christian Pulisic returns to Milan in red-hot type.
The Liverpool-linked winger tallied a purpose and an help in the USA’ 5-2 combination win towards Jamaica of their CONCACAF Nations League quarter-final tie.
Pulisic’s membership type has been equally spectacular, with the 26-year-old racking up seven targets and 5 assists from 15 appearances in all competitions this season.
Regardless of his excellent offensive exploits, Milan entered November’s worldwide break on the periphery of the European qualification spots after a 3-3 draw at Cagliari.
Visiting Juventus had higher luck towards crosstown rivals Torino, strolling to a 2-0 win at residence to increase their lead over the Rossoneri to 6 factors in sixth.
New supervisor Thiago Motta has not misplaced a Serie A sport answerable for the record-time Italian champions.
Nonetheless, he has overseen six attracts in 12 league outings, leaving the Bianconeri two factors adrift of table-topping Napoli forward of this matchday.
It may all come all the way down to this for Fonseca
Paulo Fonseca’s future at San Siro is underneath heavy scrutiny regardless of high-profile victories towards Inter Milan and Actual Madrid this season.
After failing to steer his aspect to a few consecutive league triumphs for the primary time since April, the Portuguese supervisor faces a probably must-win process.
Milan slumped to a dismal 2-0 defeat to Napoli of their final residence outing, relinquishing a three-match successful streak in such fixtures beforehand.
Although that run may nonetheless encourage confidence across the Lombard camp, it’s value noting that the hosts have emerged winless from three of their final 4 residence matches towards Juventus (W1, D2, L1).
As if that’s not discouraging sufficient, Milan failed to search out the again of the web twice throughout their final three top-flight conferences with the Turin giants of their residence setting.
Stalemate specialists
As aforementioned, one of many principal downsides of Motta’s early tenure on the Allianz Stadium has been Juventus’ incapacity to show attracts into victories.
Solely Bologna and Empoli have drawn as many video games because the Bianconeri within the opening 12 rounds, classifying this pattern as a serious concern for the highly-rated tactician.
Consistency has additionally been at a premium, with Juventus alternating between successful and drawing throughout their 5 Serie A street journeys this season.
Nonetheless, an virtually impregnable defensive position stays a uncommon fixed.
Juventus have already recorded 9 clear sheets in Serie A this time period, accounting for his or her greatest such run within the first 12 top-flight video games since 2014/15 after they gained the title.
Talking of their defensive solidity, the guests haven’t conceded on 4 of their 5 league travels, apart from a memorable 4-4 draw on this floor towards Inter final month.
Workforce Information
Milan shall be with out a number of senior first-team stars on Saturday.
Alvaro Morata, Alessandro Florenzi, Matteo Gabbia and Ismael Bennacer are unavailable for choice.
There’s nonetheless a query mark over Theo Hernandez’s head after the French left-back picked up a minor knee harm in the course of the worldwide break.
As for Juventus, Arkadiusz Milik, Douglas Luiz, Gleison Bremer and Juan Cabal won’t journey with the remainder of the squad.
The guests suffered one other harm scare earlier this week.
In response to , star striker Dusan Vlahovic sustained a thigh downside throughout Serbia’s UEFA Nations League conflict towards Denmark.
Potential Line-ups
AC Milan (4-2-3-1): Mike Maignan; Emerson Royal, Malick Thiaw, Strahinja Pavlovic, Hernandez; Youssouf Fofana, Tijjani Reijnders; Samuel Chukwueze, Christian Pulisic, Rafael Leao; Tammy Abraham.
Juventus (4-2-3-1): Michele Di Gregorio; Nicolo Savona, Federico Gatti, Pierre Kalulu, Andrea Cambiaso; Manuel Locatelli, Khephren Thuram; Timothy Weah, Teun Koopmeiners, Kenan Yildiz; Francisco Conceicao.