Juventus host AC Milan at the Allianz Stadium in Torino on Sunday evening. The hosts got a morale-boosting 3-0 win at Malmo in midweek and face a Rossoneri side fresh off a defeat against Liverpool at Anfield. When the sides last met, Milan won 3-0 away from home. Without Cristiano Ronaldo at the club, Juve have made a poor start to Serie A and need a victory in this match.
Juventus Form
The Old Lady are in poor form in the league with five defeats in 15 Serie A matches. They finished last season in good form with three consecutive victories to bounce back from a 3-0 home loss to Milan in round 35.
This season has seen Juve give up a 2-0 lead to draw 2-2 at Udinese before a 1-0 home defeat to Empoli. They then lost 2-1 at Napoli having led 1-0 through Alvaro Morata’s early goal. In midweek, they began their UEFA Champions League campaign by winning 3-0 in Sweden against Malmo as Alex Sandro, Paulo Dybala and Morata netted goals in the first 45 minutes.
Juventus Team News
Speedy winger Federico Chiesa missed out in midweek due to injury so Juan Cuadrado and Adrien Rabiot could play narrow on the sides of midfield. Weston McKennie is less important since Max Allegri took over.
Midfielders Aaron Ramsey and Rodrigo Bentancur are back from injuries and can feature. The latter started in midweek and Ramsey played the final eight minutes in that match. Moise Kean made his second Old Lady bow in Malmo but may have to make do with another game on the bench as Morata and Dybala lead the attack.
Juventus Motivation
Juve need a win after one point from three matches in Serie A so far. They are expected to set up with a hard-working midfield four and use Morata’s speed on the counter-attack. The side have thrown away leads in two of their three league matches and may bring on additional defenders to protect any advantage in this one.
AC Milan Form
Milan kept five clean sheets to finish last season. A 2-0 win at Atalanta on the final day secured Champions League football. Stefano Pioli’s team have won all three of their Serie A matches this season as they won 1-0 at Sampdoria, 4-1 against Cagliari and 2-0 against Lazio in their last match as Rafael Leao and Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored.
The Rossoneri lost 3-2 at Liverpool in midweek in the UEFA Champions League. They were thoroughly outplayed but took a shock 2-1 lead before halftime. Milan had the best away record in Serie A last season with 16 wins in 19 matches and 10 points more than any other team on the road.
AC Milan Team News
Milan are expected to be without Zlatan for this match due to some pain in his Achilles after four months out. Olivier Giroud was back from COVID-19 at Anfield as a substitute and could start this match upfront. Midfielders Rade Krunic and Tiemoue Bakayoko are out with injuries to reduce options.
The side should be mostly unchanged from the defence at Anfield but Alessandro Florenzi could feature on the right flank to five fresh legs and service to Giroud.
AC Milan Motivation
Milan are stronger on the road than at home and won this fixture 3-0 last season. They will have every confidence of beating this struggling Juve team and will play to win. They only drew once in their 19 away matches last term and won’t settle for a point.
Key Stats
Juventus had the second fewest goals conceded in Serie A last season (38)
Juventus have lost 5 of their last 15 Serie A matches
Juve are 8 home Serie A matches without a clean sheet
Milan have won their 3 matches in Serie A this season
Milan won 17 of their 20 away Serie A matches (D1, L2)
Milan have kept 4 clean sheets in their last 4 away Serie A matches
Prediction
Juve will have more confidence after winning in midweek but their problems are not necessarily over. Milan are superb travellers and very strong defensively. The best bet could be an away victory going by the stats.
Alternative Bet: Under 1.5 goals at 2.80
Value Bet: Milan win to nil at 6.50