Serie A preview: AC Milan vs AS Roma | OneFootball

AC Milan are scheduled to host AS Roma in the Serie A on Monday night. The Rossoneri are the only team in Europe’s top-five leagues with the perfect start to the season and they have picked up 12 points from their opening four games.

The visitors, on the other hand, have already dropped five points since the start of the campaign and they are placed eighth in the standings. The Giallorossi will want to avoid falling further behind when they make the visit to San Siro.

Both teams were victorious on Thursday night in the Europa League group stage. Milan secured a comfortable 3-1 win at Scottish champions Celtic. Roma, meanwhile, came from behind to register a 2-1 triumph over Young Boys on the road.

Head-to-Head meetings:

The clubs have met on 182 occasions in their history. Milan have reigned supreme with 80 wins compared to Roma’s 48. However, the Giallorossi have had the edge over the Rossoneri in recent times.

Over the past 10 meetings, they have been victorious on five occasions. The Rossoneri have won just three times during this period and one of those victories (2-0) came in June this year.

Team News:

Matteo Gabbia is still out of action for the Rossoneri due to COVID-19 while Ante Rebic won’t feature either as he has yet to overcome his arm injury. Matteo Musacchio will be another absentee. The Argentine is nearing his comeback after a long spell out with an ankle damage.

Paulo Fonseca’s side also have COVID-19 concerns to deal with. Amadou Diawara and Riccardo Calafiori continue to remain in isolation. Elsewhere, Chris Smalling is scheduled to miss the game with a sprained knee. Nicolo Zaniolo (knee surgery) and Javier Pastore (hip operation) are long-term absentees and won’t return until the turn of the year.

Predicted Lineups:

AC Milan (4-2-3-1): Gianluigi Donnarumma; Davide Calabria, Simon Kjaer, Alessio Romagnoli, Theo Hernandez; Ismael Bennacer, Frank Kessie; Alexis Saelemaekers, Hakan Calhanoglu, Rafael Leao; Zlatan Ibrahimovic

AS Roma (3-4-2-1): Antonio Mirante; Roger Ibanez, Marash Kumbulla, Gianluca Mancini; Davide Santon, Lorenzo Pellegrini, Jordan Veretout, Leonardo Spinazzola; Pedro Rodriguez, Henrikh Mkhitaryan; Edin Dzeko

Predicted Score:

Zlatan Ibrahimovic has been in splendid form for the Rossoneri and he recently starred with a match-winning brace in the Milan derby, which was his first appearance after a month lay-off due to COVID-19.

The 39-year-old has netted four goals from just two league outings this term and he should pose a genuine scoring threat against the Giallorossi, who will miss the presence of Smalling once more.

Hence, the hosts can be fancied to come up with a victory, but a clean sheet may not be an assurance. Dzeko, who recently netted a brace against Benevento, likes to face Milan and has scored in four of the previous meetings.

AC Milan 2-1 AS Roma

Stats from Transfermarkt.com and Worldfootball.net