Serie A resumes this weekend following the Champions League and Europa League. AC Milan were one of the Italian clubs involved in European competition as they played in the Europa League on Thursday night.
However, attention must turn to Serie A and this weekend AC Milan host Atalanta at the San Siro. Atalanta fell at the playoff stage of Europa League qualifying and did not have match mid-week, meaning they should be fresh for this game.
AC Milan have had a mixed start to the season. Their first Serie A game of the season was postponed due to the Genoa bridge tragedy and so they started their campaign with a tough away match at Napoli.
Despite taking a 2-0 lead in the game, AC Milan conceded 3 goals in a 27 minute period of the second half to lose them match 3-2. However, they bounced back from that disappointment with a 2-1 win over Roma before being held 1-1 at Cagliari.
AC Milan travelled to F91 Dudelange in Luxembourg on Thursday night and came away with a narrow 1-0 win in the Europa League.
Trends show AC Milan have become tough to beat in Serie A and they have lost only three of their last twenty games. They have won each of their last three at home, scoring 11 goals in the process. AC Milan are entertaining to watch and both teams have scored in each of their last seven Serie A matches.
Atalanta start the weekend on the same number of points as AC Milan but have played a game more than their hosts. Having started their Serie A campaign with a 4-0 win over Frosinone, Atalanta picked up a good point at Roma in a 3-3 draw at the Stadio Olimpico.
However, Atalanta have since lost 1-0 at home against Cagliari and fell to a 2-0 defeat at SPAL last weekend, both of which were disappointing results. Including the Europa League playoffs, Atalanta have failed to win any of their last five matches in all competitions.
Trends show Atalanta have won just one of their last seven Serie A games and have failed to win any of their last four on the road. Atalanta have kept one clean sheet in their last six away Serie A games but have scored in four of them.
Looking ahead to the team news and AC Milan will be without Andrea Conti who has a knee injury and Ivan Strinic, who is taking a break from the sport with a heart problem. Patrick Cutrone could feature but Ricardo Montolivo is unlikely to play any part.
Atalanta are set to be without Marco Varnier, who is recovering from a cruciate ligament injury. There have been reports Alejandro Gomez has been struggling this week but the Argentine should be fit to start.
Three of the last four meetings between these teams have ended in a draw and we could in for more of the same on Sunday. AC Milan are recovering from their game on Thursday while Atalanta have had all week to prepare and that could make a difference. Look out for a draw with both teams scoring.