Serie A: AC Milan Under Immense Pressure Against Juventus

AC Milan vs Juventus

Two of the biggest clubs in Italian football will meet again on Saturday, as AC Milan host Juventus at San Siro for this weekend’s high-profile clash.

Paulo Fonseca’s side has had an uneven start this season, recording only 18 points after the first 11 matchdays for seventh place in the Serie A table. However, AC Milan have a game in hand compared to Juventus that they can use to their advantage.

Thiago Motta’s men, on the other hand, are right above them with 24 points. Juventus are in the thick of a tight six-way Scudetto race, and a win can propel them to the top of the pile depending on this weekend’s Serie A 2024 results.

The pre-game SBOTOP betting odds predict a tight contest between these two heavyweights. Which team do you think will come out on top on Saturday?

 

Talking Points

AC Milan get huge defensive boost

Paulo Fonseca is happy to learn that one of his most reliable centre-backs is ready to go against Juventus, as Matteo Gabbia has been training with the first team this week.

Matteo Gabbia has missed the last four games for the Rossoneri after sustaining a calf injury during their 3-1 victory over Club Brugge in the Champions League last month, forcing Fonseca to rotate his centre-back pairing.

Malick Thiaw and Strahinja Pavlovic have deputised for Gabbia, but the team had mixed results with the two of them in the starting lineup. Gabbia’s return should relegate them back to the bench since the 25-year-old will likely have Fikayo Tomori as his centre-half partner.

With Matteo Gabbia at the back, the Rossoneri are only conceding an average of 0.88 goals per game, which becomes 1.66 without him in the lineup. AC Milan have won four games out of the six that Gabbia has started in Serie A.

Furthermore, AC Milan fancy their chances against Juventus since Rafael Leao has rediscovered his form.

Rafael Leao is now the team’s second-leading scorer with three Serie A goals and three assists. Him and Christian Pulisic should continue to lead the way up front.

 

Juventus suffer injury blows up front

On the other hand, Juventus’ attack will look different this weekend, as Dusan Vlahovic will miss the Bianconeri’s upcoming matches against AC Milan and Aston Villa.

The 24-year-old forward sustained a thigh injury while on international duty with Serbia. Thiago Motta will miss Dusan Vlahovic because he is the team’s top scorer with six league goals.

Nico Gonzalez is also not in the rotation for Saturday, as he has yet to recover from a leg injury he sustained against RB Leipzig last month.

With Dusan Vlahovic and Nico Gonzalez sidelined, Tim Weah and Kenan Yildiz will take over in the final third. Weah and Yildiz have seven Serie A goals and three assists combined this season.

In other team news, Juventus have already let go of Paul Pogba, and Juan Cabal is the team’s latest injury casualty due to a torn ACL.

 

History

The AC Milan-Juventus fixture hasn’t featured a lot of goals lately, despite their collective firepower, as the Bianconeri have scored only twice in their last seven Serie A meetings against AC Milan (since May 2021).

AC Milan have drawn more Serie A home matches against Juventus than against any other side (34, eight more than against any other opponent).

With only 18 points after the first 11 matchdays, the Rossoneri would have their lowest tally at this juncture in the last four seasons even if they win against the Bianconeri this weekend.

Juventus have already kept nine clean sheets in the first 12 Serie A matches of the season. The last team to notch 10 clean sheets in the first 13 matchdays was AS Roma in 2013/14.

 

Betting Tip

As mentioned, the Serie A 2024 odds expect a fun battle between AC Milan and Juventus, with the former being the slight favourites.

Despite their inferior recent form, AC Milan are priced at 2.16 to win, while Juventus are not far behind at 3.18, and a draw is at 3.08 in the 1X2 market.

However, we believe that predicting the winner of this contest is too close to tell, so we’re going for a low-scoring contest instead.

Besides our recommended bet above, bettors could also go for options like Total Goals 0-1 at 2.70, Under 2.25 at 1.95, and Under 2.00 at 2.33 considering the trend of their recent meetings.

Meanwhile, a Correct Score of 0-0 – the result of their previous league encounter – has a generous offer of 8.60.

   

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