Can Mourinho’s men close the gap on Milan? Or will Stefano Pioli’s side keep the pressure on Inter Milan and Juventus at the top? It’s time to take a closer look at the teams.
AC Milan will aim to extend their unbeaten streak in Serie A to five matches when Jose Mourinho’s Roma visit the San Siro on Sunday evening.
FT. pic.twitter.com/nJvCuUnbkD— AC Milan (@acmilan) January 10, 2024
FT. pic.twitter.com/nJvCuUnbkD
With 19 games in the books, third-placed Milan lead eighth-placed Roma by 10 points, although the Rossoneri remain seven points shy of the top two.
Let's start with the hosts, AC Milan, who suffered a 2-1 defeat against Atalanta in the quarter-finals of the Coppa del Rey on Wednesday.
That loss ended a six-game unbeaten run for the Rossoneri, who picked up five wins and one draw before dropping out of the cup.
Milan have been especially strong on home soil this season, winning seven of their nine Serie A clashes at the San Siro, including each of the previous four.
Having lost just five of their last 30 league games – suffering four defeats this term – Pioli’s side will be confident of extending their unbeaten run this weekend.
As for Roma, they suffered a 1-0 defeat to arch-rivals Lazio in the Coppa del Rey quarter-finals on Wednesday, with three players seeing red at the Stadio Olimpico.
Mourinho’s men have now lost three of their previous six matches across all competitions, falling to Juventus and Bologna in the league.
Roma have been particularly poor on their travels in recent times, winning just two of their last 13 away games in Serie A.
Having lost each of their previous three away games without scoring a single goal, Roma will likely struggle to get the better of Milan on Sunday.
Head-to-head: Roma’s last Serie A victory over Milan came back in 2019. Since then, the Rossoneri have recorded six wins and three draws in this fixture.
To make matters worse for Roma, they have not defeated Milan at the San Siro since 2017, although they have claimed three draws at the iconic stadium since then.
Team news: Milan duo Ismael Bennacer and Samuel Chukwueze are at the Africa Cup of Nations, while Fikayo Tomori, Malick Thiaw, Pierre Kalulu and Alessandro Florenzi are injured.
Roma trio Houssem Aouar, Sardar Azmoun and Evan Ndicka are also on AFCON duty, while Tammy Abraham, Paulo Dybala and Renato Sanches are sidelined due to injury.
Given Milan’s strong record at the San Siro, Sunday’s clash will likely be difficult for Roma, who have struggled on the road of late.
With that in mind, Forebet predicts that Milan will score over 1.5 goals and keep a clean sheet on their way to victory over Mourinho’s men.