AC Milan v Juventus
Serie A
San Siro, Milan, Italy
Sunday, November 25, 2012
19:45 GMT
Juventus will be looking to maintain their four point gap over Inter Milan when they travel to the San Siro Stadium to play AC Milan this weekend.
AC Milan are way down in 12th place looking for a win that would take them into the top half of the table.
AC Milan Preview
AC Milan have been poor at home this season with a record that doesn’t do the club justice. They have played seven matches at home, winning three and losing four. The problem for Milan has been that many of those defeats have been narrow defeats as they still have a decent set of statistics at home with nine goals scored and seven against.
They will be confident after beating Anderlecht 3-1 away from home in the Champions League.
Injuries and Suspensions
Milan are missing two key defenders with Djamel Mesbah and Daniele Bonera both out of action and unlikely to be fit in time for the match. Mesbah has been out of action since the end of September and looks as though he won’t make it in time while Bonera has been struggling with muscular problems but is close to a return to first team action.
Robinho, Didac Vila, Sulley Muntari, Alexandre Pato and Rodney Strasser will all be unavailable for selection through injury.
Juventus Preview
Juventus have been superb away from home in the league this season with five wins and one draw. They go into this game off the back of a 3-0 win over Chelsea in the Champions League which has helped them on their quest towards European glory. They have been in great form and produced their biggest away win of the season in the 6-1 victory at Pescara.
Injuries and Suspensions
Juventus have been blessed with a small injury list only troubled by one long term absentee and Mirko Vucinic who has come out of the Champions League match against Chelsea with no repeat of a previous injury that kept him out of the side.
Simone Pepe will not take his place in the midfield of the side while Arturo Vidal is likely to feature. Andrea Pirlo is on the verge of a suspension if he picks up one more yellow card. Vincenzo Iaquinta remains out through long term suspension.
AC Milan v Juventus Stats
AC Milan have played a total of 13 games with four wins, three draws and six defeats. They have one of the best for and against tallies of any side in the bottom half of the table with 18 goals conceded and 20 goals scored in total.
Juventus have only failed to take all three points on three occasions this season with two draws, a defeat and all other matches ending in wins. They are the joint highest scorers away from home with 16 and they are the best defensive side on the road having only conceded four goals in six games.
Head 2 Head: Out of the last six meetings between these two teams, AC Milan have won two, Juventus have won three and the other match has ended in a draw. This match was a 1-1 draw last season with Juventus winning the 2010/2011 fixture 2-1.
Recent Form: AC Milan have not been fantastic over their last six matches with two wins, three draws and a defeat. They have won their league match at home against Chievo and beat Anderlecht in the Champions League.
They have draws against Palermo and Napoli in Serie A as well as a point in Europe at Malaga. Their defeat came at home in the league against Fiorentina.
Juventus have won four out of their last six with their only defeat coming at home against Inter Milan and their only draw at home against Lazio. They have scored seven goals in their two Champions League wins in these last six games as well as eight goals in the two Serie A wins out of the last six.
AC Milan v Juventus Prediction
The fact Milan have a very long injury list and their form at home this season suggests it’s difficult to see past an away win. Juventus have been scoring goals for fun in recent games and a 2-0 away win looks likely.
Prediction: AC Milan 0-2 Juventus.
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