AC Milan will be bidding to make it four Serie A victories in a row when they welcome mid-table Bologna to San Siro on Monday night.
The home side are currently top of the table, three points clear of second-placed Napoli, while Bologna have collected 33 points from their 29 league games this season to sit 12th.
Match preview
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AC Milan were held to back-to-back draws by Salernitana and Udinese in their final two league games of February but enjoyed a strong March, recording three straight 1-0 wins over Napoli, Empoli and Cagliari.
A total of 66 points from 30 matches left the Milan giants at the top of the table, three points clear of second-placed Napoli and six ahead of third-placed Inter Milan, who have a game in hand.
Napoli will have the chance to move level on points with the leaders when they face Atalanta BC on Sunday afternoon, and it is set to be a fascinating conclusion to the title race, with AC Milan desperately attempting to hold off the teams behind them to win their 19th Serie A title.
The Red and Blacks have not been crowned Italian champions since 2011, but they were second last season and are currently in pole position to win the championship.
Stefano Pioli's side are actually unbeaten in Serie A since the middle of January, but the leaders have performed better on their travels this season than in front of their own supporters, boasting only the fourth-best home record, in contrast to the strongest away record.
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Bologna, meanwhile, finished 12th in Serie A last season, and it does appear that they will enjoy a similar campaign in 2021-22, currently sitting 12th in the division.
The Red and Blues have won nine, drawn six and lost 14 of their 29 league matches this season to collect 33 points, and they are 11 points clear of the bottom three so have no real relegation fears at this stage.
Bologna have only actually won once in Serie A since December 22, while they are without a victory in their last four matches, drawing with Salernitana and Torino before losing to Fiorentina and Atalanta.
The fact that Sinisa Mihajlovic's side have only scored once in their last four league games is a concern, and goals have been hard to find this term, managing just 32 in their 29 league fixtures.
I Veltri have also lost each of their last six Serie A matches against Milan, including a 4-2 defeat in the reverse match earlier this season, while they were beaten 2-0 at San Siro last term.
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Team News
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AC Milan's squad is in excellent shape at the moment, meaning that Pioli has a number of decisions to make heading into the contest on Monday night.
The majority of the players that started the 1-0 win over Cagliari before the international break are again expected to take to the field, with Olivier Giroud featuring at the tip of the attack.
However, there could be a slight tweak in midfield, with Sandro Tonali potentially coming into the side, which would allow Franck Kessie to move forward into the number 10 position.
As for Bologna, Nicolas Dominguez and Federico Santander will miss the match through injury, while Kingsley Michael is a long-term absentee for the visitors.
Head coach Mihajlovic is expected to resist the temptation to shuffle his pack from the defeat to Atalanta last time out, although there could be a role in the side for Mitchell Dijks.
The visitors are likely to line up in a 3-4-3 formation once again, with Marko Arnautovic, who has nine league goals this season, featuring at the tip of the attack.
AC Milan possible starting lineup:
Maignan; Calabria, Kalulu, Tomori, Hernandez; Tonali, Bennacer; Messias, Kessie, Leao; Giroud
Bologna possible starting lineup:
Skorupski; Soumaoro, Medel, Theate; Hickey, Schouten, Svanberg, Dijks; Soriano, Arnautovic, Orsolini
We say: AC Milan 2-0 Bologna
AC Milan need to keep winning due to the pressure being put on them at the top of the table, and we are fully expecting the home side to triumph here. Bologna are capable of being tricky opponents, but we are finding it difficult to predict anything other than a routine success for the leaders.
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a AC Milan win with a probability of 73.11%. A draw had a probability of 17.3% and a win for Bologna had a probability of 9.63%.
The most likely scoreline for an AC Milan win was 2-0 with a probability of 13.62%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-0 (12.14%) and 3-0 (10.18%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (8.18%), while for a Bologna win it was 0-1 (3.65%). The actual scoreline of 0-0 was predicted with a 5.4% likelihood.
