AC Milan will travel to Bergamo this Sunday to play Atalanta in what promises to be an exciting battle in the Italian Serie A.
Venue: Gewiss Stadium
Key Statistics
Atalanta are unbeaten in five competitive games.
Their tally of eight goals is the fewest they have scored after six matches since the 2014/15 season.
Overall, they have scored eleven times in all competitions this season and have also conceded eight goals.
AC Milan are unbeaten in Serie A this season (W5, D1).
Overall, they have won nine of their last 11 Serie A games (D2).
They have scored 15 goals and conceded eight in all competitions this season.
Five of the last Serie A head-to-heads between both sides have witnessed a penalty goal
Head to head
Atalanta and Milan have met 139 times in the past and Milan have a superior record after winning 66 times. Atalanta have 27 wins while 46 games have ended all square.
Latest Performances in all competitions
Atalanta: W-D-W-W-D
AC Milan: L-W-W-D-L
Atalanta
After their exploits of the last three seasons, Atalanta have begun this season poorly and are sitting in 7th place after six games.
Gian Piero Gasperini’s side have failed to rediscover the form that made them a joy to watch in previous seasons and have currently won just two of their opening six matches in Serie A.
They defeated Young Boys in the Champions League last Wednesday to go top of their group. They will hope they can make it two home wins in a row after failing to record consecutive home wins in the league since recording seven in a row last season.
‘La Dea’ will also have to rediscover their scoring boots from previous seasons, as their tally of eight league goals is their joint-lowest at this stage since 2014/15, a season they narrowly avoided relegation.
Meanwhile, Gasperini will be without Jose Luis Palomino and Hans Hateboer for this tie while Robin Gosens is ruled out after picking up a thigh injury in their win against Young Boys.
Striker Luis Muriel featured from the bench in the Champions League against Young Boys and should be available to start here.
Possible Atalanta starting line-ups
Juan Musso; Rafael Toloi, Merih Demiral, Berat Djimsiti; Davide Zappacosta, Mario Pasalic, Teun Koopmeiners, Joakim Mæhle; Matteo Pessina; Josip Ilicic, Duvan Zapata.
AC Milan
AC Milan will return to Serie A action with a bitter taste in their mouth after their last-minute loss to Atletico Madrid in the Champions League last Tuesday.
Stefano Pioli’s side held on for much of the game with ten men but were undone by a late controversial penalty by Luis Suarez.
They will hope to bounce back from that disappointing loss and continue their impressive start to the Serie A season.
The ‘Rossoneri’ are one of the three unbeaten teams in the league and will look to keep their record intact when they face their fellow Northern Italy rivals. The visitors are sitting in second place with 16 points having won five of their opening six league games (D1).
A win here would see them equal their best start to a Serie A campaign since 2003/04 when they won the Scudetto.
However, injuries to many first-team players is threatening to derail what has been a good league campaign so far. Zlatan Ibrahimovic,Rade Krunic, Tiemoue Bakayoko, Alessandro Florenzi, Junior Messias, and Alessandro Plizzari all sidelined for the game.
Simon Kjaer has recovered from a muscle injury and should be available for selection.
Possible AC Milan starting line-ups
Mike Maignan; Davide Calabria, Fikayo Tomori, Alessio Romagnoli, Theo Hernandez; Sandro Tonali, Franck Kessie; Alexis Saelemaekers, Brahim Diaz, Rafael Leao; Ante Rebic
Prediction
Despite their injury concerns AC Milan have momentum on their side and should be able to see off a struggling Atalanta.
