Champions AC Milan and promoted Monza will square off in a unique derby in Serie A on Saturday night.
The former owners of the Milan are back at the San Siro with their team looking for an upset to top even their victory over Juventus last month, while the hosts are going for three points to keep pace with the leaders.
Silvio Berlusconi and Adriano Galliani, the owners of Monza, will find their former club in a familiar position this weekend as they sit in their VIP seats, as Milan is not only the current Scudetto holder but also sits three points off the lead in their title defence.
The Rossoneri may be having trouble qualifying for Europe, but they are now within striking distance of Napoli, the league’s top team and Italy’s in-form team, after three straight victories in Serie A.
Sandro Tonali’s late goal in a 2-1 victory over Verona last weekend, five months after his pivotal brace at Stadio Bentegodi brought Milan close to winning their first Scudetto in ten years, was necessary to secure victory there.
As a result, Stefano Pioli’s team has now won seven of its first ten league games and will continue to be the only unbeaten team outside of its home stadium in Serie A in 2022.
They have won all six of their home games against newly promoted teams without giving up a goal, and this week they return to Milanese soil. In fact, tenacious Benevento upset Milan at San Siro in April 2018—they were the most recent Serie B team to do so.
Due to a long injury list that is slowly starting to shrink, Pioli can choose a team that will play against ambitious Lombardy rivals after enjoying a rare block of training time free from midweek commitments.
Monza can step out at San Siro buoyed by a recent run of results that has elevated them from the bottom three to mid-table as they travel to Italy’s second city for a match that has been eagerly anticipated by their supporters.
The Biancorossi have won three of their last four league games since former coach Giovanni Stroppa left in September, giving them 10 points after just as many games.
Only four promoted clubs that had matched that total at this point in a Serie A season in the previous 20 seasons were ultimately relegated, so Raffaele Palladino’s team has a strong chance of surviving and breaking into the elite.
However, Monza’s first defeat under Palladino occurred last week when, despite controlling possession against Empoli at Stadio Carlo Castellani, they were defeated 1-0.
That did not stop them for long, however, as they defeated Udinese on Wednesday night in the Coppa Italia, triumphing 3-2 at the Dacia Arena on the strength of goals from Mattia Valoti, Salvatore Molina, and Andrea Petagna.
Stefano Pioli will have at least the two of his injured players back in the squad on Saturday after enjoying a rare week on the Milanello training field. Charles De Ketelaere and Simon Kjaer are both expected to be available.
Since Mike Maignan, the team’s first-choice goalkeeper, was nearing the end of his recovery process but has suffered a setback in calf injury, Ciprian Tatarusanu would continue to fill in.
Yacine Adli, a French midfielder, made his full debut for Milan against Verona, in part due to the ongoing absences of Alexis Saelemaekers, Davide Calabria, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, and Alessandro Florenzi. If De Ketelaere is able to start, he will likely replace Adli.
Veteran striker Olivier Giroud may finally be taking a break after serving tirelessly for the past few weeks; Ante Rebic would fill in if necessary.
Due to Nicolo Rovella’s late dismissal last weekend, Monza are without him, so one of Andrea Barberis or Mattia Valoti will likely partner on-loan Inter player Stefano Sensi in midfield.
Raffaele Palladino returns to a more familiar lineup after making several adjustments for his team’s midweek cup victory in Udine, likely using a 3-4-2-1 formation.
Monza has averaged 1.8 points this season in the four Serie A games that Portuguese striker Dany Mota has started, while they have won just one of the other six. Nevertheless, Gianluca Caprari and captain Matteo Pessina support Christian Gytkjaer, who is the favourite to keep his position up front.
AC Milan possible starting lineup:
Tatarusanu; Kalulu, Fikayo Tomori, Gabbia, Hernandez; Tonali, Bennacer; Diaz, De Ketelaere, Leao; Ante Rebic
Monza possible starting lineup:
Di Gregorio; Marlon, Pablo Mari, Izzo; Carlos, Sensi, Barberis, Ciurria; Caprari, Matteo Pessina; Gytkjaer
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