AC Milan will welcome Spezia to the San Siro on Monday evening for their 22nd round game of the 2021/22 Serie A season.
Venue: Stadio Giuseppe Meazza (San Siro)
Key Statistics
AC Milan have kept just one clean sheet in their last eight home games in all competitions.
They have scored 46 goals in the league this season (the joint-second most goals in the league this season).
However, only 41.3% of their league goals have been scored at home.
Spezia have conceded 41 goals in the league this season. Only Cagliari (42) and Salernitana (47) have conceded more so far.
Of those 41 goals conceded, 27 have been conceded away from home while just ten of their league goals have also been scored away from home.
They have won their last two away games while keeping two clean sheets.
Head to head
The last four meetings between both sides has featured three wins for AC Milan and one win for Spezia.
Latest performances in all competitions
AC Milan: W-W-W-W-L
Spezia: W-L-W-D-D-L
AC Milan
AC Milan will look to continue their impressive start to the new year when they host Spezia on Sunday.
Stefano Pioli’s side come into this tie on the back of a 3-1 win over Genoa in the Coppa Italia round of eight. An early goal from Leo Ostigard gave Genoa a surprise lead before Olivier Giroud equalised for Milan late in the game to take the game to extra time. Portuguese forward Rafael Leao and Alexis Saelemaekers then scored either side of the extra time break to win the game for Milan.
In the league, the hosts have won their opening two games of the year, scoring six goals in both games. Their first game of the year was a 3-1 win over AS Roma followed by a 3-0 win over Verona in their last league game.
With those wins, Pioli’s side enter this round of games sitting in second place, one point behind Inter Milan having played a game more.
With the distance between them and the top that slender, the hosts will bid their time, ready to leapfrog Inter at the slightest drop of points. And so, they will welcome the struggling Spezia to the San Siro looking to take all three points to ensure that they are in pole position to go top if Inter drop points against Atalanta this weekend.
Possible AC Milan starting line-ups
Mike Maignan; Alessandro Florenzi, Pierre Kalulu, Matteo Gabbia, Theo Hernandez; Rare Krunic, Tiemoue Bakayoko; Alexis Saelemaekers, Brahim Diaz, RafaelLeao; Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
Injured: missing Alessio Romagnoli, Pietro Pellegri, Fikayo Tomori and Simon Kjaer
Unavailable (AFCON): Ismael Bennacer, Fode Ballo-Toure and Franck Kessie
Suspended: Sandro Tonali
Spezia
Spezia will look to win their second match in a row when they travel to Milan this Monday.
The visitors beat Genoa 1-0 last week Sunday thanks to a 14th-minute strike from left-back Simone Bastoni.
The win was Spezia’s second in their last three games, giving them as many points as they had gotten in the eleven games before then.
With just 19 points to their name from 21 games, Thiago Motta’s men currently occupy 16th place, three points ahead of Cagliari, who are occupying the last relegation spot.
With the results they are getting in recent games, they have shown that they have a chance of survival. Their last two away games have resulted in two wins and two clean sheets and so they will be positive that they can record another positive result on this occasion.
Possible Spezia starting line-ups
Ivan Provedel; Kelvin Amian, Martin Erlic, Salvador Ferrer, Bastoni Simeone; Arkadiusz Reca, Viktor Kovalenko, Jacopo Sala, Dimitrios Nikolaou, Emmanuel Gyasi; Daniele Verde.
Injured: None
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
Unavailable (AFCON): Ebrima Colley
Prediction
AC Milan 3-0 Spezia
