Following four straight wins in all competitions, AC Milan aim to keep a stranglehold on second place in the Serie A standings by beating Hellas Verona on Sunday.
Milan will arrive at Stadio Bentegodi having secured a spot in the Europa League quarter-finals, while back-to-back wins have helped Hellas inch away from the drop zone.
Match preview
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Securing just their second win in eight European away games, Milan strode past Slavia Prague on Thursday evening, with a 3-1 victory at Eden Arena wrapping up an emphatic 7-3 aggregate win.
After their hosts went down to 10 men, the Rossoneri raced further ahead through goals from Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Christian Pulisic and Rafael Leao, and Friday's draw then pitted them against Italian rivals Roma in the Europa League quarter-finals.
Ahead of that mouthwatering tie, which takes place soon after the upcoming international break, Milan must quickly resume domestic duties.
Having edged out Empoli last weekend, when Pulisic scored the only goal at San Siro, Stefano Pioli's side moved above Juventus in the standings, to take second place behind distant leaders Inter Milan.
The Scudetto is surely out of reach, as they trail Inter by some 16 points, but claiming a runners-up spot would represent a commendable campaign following last season's disappointments.
Only Milan's city rivals have picked up more points and scored more goals since December, and an improved record on the road has played its part in Pioli's men overhauling out-of-form Juve.
The Rossoneri have won four of their last five away games in Serie A, scoring an average of 2.4 goals in the process; having also taken maximum points on their last four trips to Stadio Bentegodi, they will expect another victory on Sunday.
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Verona last avoided losing at home to Milan back in 2017, and the Gialloblu have also lost six league games on the spin against their Lombardy counterparts following a 1-0 defeat in this season's reverse fixture.
However, like Milan, Hellas have won their two most recent top-flight matches without conceding a goal and are now seeking a sequence of three for the first time in over a decade.
Michael Folorunsho's first-half goal proved enough to get the better of Lecce in last week's relegation six-pointer, when an otherwise obscure game achieved infamy due to a headbutting incident involving Lecce boss Roberto D'Aversa after the final whistle.
That remarkable moment of madness followed Thomas Henry's late dismissal at Stadio Via del Mare, but aside from all the furore, Verona's victory took them above their opponents in the table and two points clear of the drop zone.
Before making a bright start to March, Marco Baroni's men had won just once in 2024, so the Gialloblu's head coach will hope a corner has been turned before facing one of their toughest tests of the season.
Team News
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Both Rafael Leao and Alessandro Florenzi return from one-match domestic bans this weekend, and Milan goalkeeper Mike Maignan has recovered from a knee injury that forced him off in midweek.
Tommaso Pobega is still sidelined, but fellow midfielders Ismael Bennacer and Tijjani Reijnders could be brought back into the Rossoneri's starting XI after being benched against Slavia Prague.
Supporting Olivier Giroud up front, Christian Pulisic recently took his tally to eight league goals this season and is just one shy of equalling Juventus midfielder Weston McKennie as the leading American scorer in Serie A.
If not rested, Rafael Leao will also feature in the final third, having been directly involved in six goals from his last five appearances against Verona.
Meanwhile, midfielder Michael Folorunsho has played a part in three of the Gialloblu's last four goals, and he is set to link up with Dutch striker Tijjani Noslin once again.
Pawel Dawidowicz can return to the hosts' back four after serving a suspension, but French forward Thomas Henry is now banned following his red card in Lecce.
Hellas Verona possible starting lineup:
Montipo; Tchatchoua, Magnani, Dawidowicz, Cabal; Duda, Serdar; Suslov, Folorunsho, Lazovic; Noslin
AC Milan possible starting lineup:
Maignan; Calabria, Tomori, Thiaw, Hernandez; Bennacer, Reijnders; Pulisic, Loftus-Cheek, Leao; Giroud
We say: Hellas Verona 0-2 AC Milan
They may have beaten two fellow strugglers in recent games, but Verona still lack bite in the opposition area, so only tired legs may stop Milan from coasting to victory. Four days on from securing progress in Europe, the Rossoneri should take care of business at Stadio Bentegodi.
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Jonathan O'Shea
