AC Milan travel to Sampdoria for our Serie A season opener on Monday night, with Stefano Pioli hopeful of opening the campaign with a win.
The Rossoneri have added quality in the transfer window and been busy with a pre-season schedule that has tested us to prepare for this game and ultimately the season as a whole.
READ MORE: How Milan could line up vs Sampdoria: Giroud debut, familiar Pioli system
Starting positively will be vital, particularly given the results elsewhere around the league this weekend with a number of our direct rivals getting three points on the board immediately.
However, the focus will be on ourselves and this game, and it promises to be a difficult start given the quality that Sampdoria have in their side, particularly in the final third.
Stats
- Milan have been winning at both half time and full time in 17 of their last 21 away Serie A matches.
- Milan have scored at least 2 goals in 23 of their last 25 away matches.
- AC Milan have kept a clean sheet in their last 5 matches.
- AC Milan are undefeated in 24 of their last 26 away matches.
- Sampdoria have scored at least 2 goals in their last 4 home matches.
- Milan are unbeaten in their last four Serie A meetings with Sampdoria (W2 D2 L0). Sampdoria are looking for their first league win in encounters between the two teams since March 2019. The Rossoneri have outscored Sampdoria 7-3 during this unbeaten streak.
- Sampdoria had nine wins, three draws, and seven losses at home last season. Milan had 16 wins, one draw, and two losses away from home last year.
Team news
Milan are without two key players with Franck Kessie and Zlatan Ibrahimovic both currently sidelined by injury. Given the influence that the duo have when in the side, it will be a significant loss for Pioli.
As for Sampdoria, Verre and Vieira are expected to miss out as they will be evaluated heading into the game, but time will tell if they can recover to be in contention for the match day squad.
There could be one key decision for Pioli to make though in terms of his Milan XI, with Ante Rebic perhaps pushing Rafael Leao for a starting spot on the left flank.
Probable XIs
Sampdoria (4-2-3-1): Audero; Bereszynski, Yoshida, Colley, Augello; Thorsby, Silva; Candreva, Gabbiadini, Damsgaard; Quagliarella.
Milan (4-2-3-1): Maignan; Calabria, Kjaer, Tomori, Hernandez; Bennacer, Tonali; Saelemaekers, Brahim Diaz, Leao; Giroud.