Competition: Italian Serie A 2016-17
Date: Saturday, 4th March, 19:45 GMT
Stadium: Stadio Giuseppe Meazza.
AC Milan vs ChievoVerona Preview and Prediction
Milan might not be performing at their best recently, but they are still in the Europa League hunt and host a tricky Chievo side.
The Rossoneri come into this fixture sitting in seventh place, but now only one point behind city rivals Inter and within four points of Atalanta in fourth. Chievo will be content with their standings, having picked up as many points as their Milanese counterparts over the last five games.
Having weathered a mid-season run of poor form, Milan once again seem capable of improving on last season’s seventh-place finish. Coach Vincenzo Montella has dealt admirably with his defensive injury crisis and will be glad to see Mattia De Sciglio returning to compete for the left-back position with Leonel Vangioni.
Despite several contentious refereeing decisions, Milan emerged with a slender 1-0 victory against their bogey team Sassuolo, and Montella will be reluctant to change a winning formula.
An eye injury to Ignazio Abate will force Montella into a straight swap for Davide Calabria, although the rest of the team is likely to remain unchanged. If this is the case, the attacking impetus will once again rest upon Spanish duo Gerard Deulofeu and Suso, who between them have dragged Milan out of their slump.
Chievo have also recovered from a poor winter run in which they lost five consecutive matches, admittedly against high-class opposition. Since then, they have picked up 10 points in five games, including an impressive away victory against Lazio.
Last week’s fixture saw the Flying Donkeys easily dispatch a resurgent Pescara team, who many tipped for success under new coach Zdenek Zeman, after a 5-0 annihilation of Genoa.
Coach Rolando Maran will look to ex-Milan midfielder Valter Birsa to provide the creative spark against his former club, as he done all season for the Gialloblu. Playing as a trequartista, the Slovenian already has five goals and seven assists to his name, marking this as his most successful season in Italy.
Maran will have to do without Perparim Hetemaj, who picked up a suspension against Pescara, and so will have to bring in either Mariano Izco or Jonathan De Guzman.
Chievo are level on points with Sampdoria and only one behind Torino, however the other two teams are facing opposition sitting in the relegation zone this weekend. If the Flying Donkeys want to maintain their challenge to break into the top 10, they will have to stop Milan’s creative wingers from playing their natural game.
With Carlos Bacca misfiring, and Montella favouring defensively-minded central midfielders, Chievo have the potential to ask questions of Milan. However, if history is anything to go by, Milan should emerge with all three points on Saturday.
Form Guide: Milan (W W D W L) Chievo (W L W D W)
Keep an eye on: Gerard Deulofeu (Milan) – The Everton loanee has made the perfect first impression since his January switch to Milan. With a goal and an assist to his name already, Deulofeu’s pace and trickery has provided a new dimension to Milan’s forward play, and he must be one of the first names on the team sheet for Montella.
Last season: Milan 1-0 Chievo
Stat fact: Chievo haven’t beaten Milan in Serie A since December 2005, home and away, and are yet to manage a single victory at San Siro with just three draws from 15 attempts.
Top tip: Under 2.5 Goals.
Milan (probable): Donnarumma; Calabria, Zapata, Paletta, Vangioni; Kucka, Sosa, Bertolacci; Suso, Bacca, Deulofeu
Suspended: None
Chievo (probable): Sorrentino; Cacciatore, Dainelli, Gamberini, Gobbi; Castro, Radovanovic, Izco; Birsa; Meggiorini, Inglese
Suspended: Hetemaj
