A tussle between two of Serie A's heavyweight title contenders sees champions AC Milan welcome Juventus to San Siro on Saturday evening.

Having experienced very different fates in Europe this week, the sides convene in Italy's second city separated by four points and two places in the standings, with the hosts currently holding the upper hand.

Match preview

After winning six successive Serie A home matches - with several coming on the way to securing last season's Scudetto - Milan lost their last league outing at San Siro to Napoli, and after rallying late on to win at Empoli last week, they then slipped to defeat in the Champions League.

Comfortably beaten 3-0 at Stamford Bridge, the Rossoneri's clash with Group E rivals Chelsea certainly did not go to plan, though a long list of absent players provides mitigation for the manner of their collapse.

While they remain well in the mix for progression to the last 16 from a particularly wide-open group, before hosting Graham Potter's team in next week's return they must stay on the tails of the four sides above them domestically.

Under Stefano Pioli, Milan have never lost successive home games in Serie A, so will look to quickly shake off their European setback and take down one of their main rivals for Calcio supremacy.

Trailing Juventus by 15 Scudetti in the all-time records, the Rossoneri drew both of their matches against the Turin club last season, on their way to a 19th Italian title - and the first for over a decade.

In a sign of changing times, Milan have now avoided defeat in four of their last five league meetings with Juve, having lost 13 of the previous 14. Pioli now aims to continue that trend, as his side seek to pull seven points clear of their visitors.

While Milan were forced to find two stoppage-time goals in order to complete a 3-1 win last week, Juventus overcame the cloud of uncertainty hanging over them to record a straightforward victory at home to Bologna.

Returning from the international break with speculation about Max Allegri's position still raging, the Bianconeri turned in a more promising performance, in which two goals within three second-half minutes sealed a 3-0 success.

A scorer on Sunday, Dusan Vlahovic returned another goal in midweek, as Juve were inspired by the returning Angel Di Maria - who recorded a hat-trick of assists and would have had two more but for Vlahovic's wayward finishing - to beat a spirited Maccabi Haifa side in the Champions League.

After a slow start in continental competition, Allegri's men still trail Group H's leading pair - Di Maria's former clubs Paris Saint-Germain and Benfica - by four points, so have plenty of work to do yet if they are to reach the knockout stages.

Ahead of their return to domestic duty, Juventus may have won six of their last nine meetings with Milan at San Siro, but they have clearly slipped behind their Rossoneri rivals in the pecking order of late.

Among several reasons for their continued decline since Allegri's return has been below-par away form. Indeed, his side have picked up only two points from three Serie A away matches this season; only once in the last 40 years have Juve failed to win any of their first four on the road.

Team News

Following heavily-criticised performances against Chelsea, summer recruits Charles De Ketelaere and Sergino Dest could drop out of the Milan lineup on Saturday, as Stefano Pioli makes changes for a clash with the club he represented 35 times as a player.

His options remain restricted by a lengthy injury list, but flying full-back Theo Hernandez could return to add thrust to the hosts' left flank; goalkeeper Mike Maignan joins Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Divock Origi, Junior Messias and Alessandro Florenzi on the sidelines again, though.

Meanwhile, Alexis Saelemaekers (knee), Simon Kjaer (thigh) and Davide Calabria (hamstring) came off injured in the win over Empoli and are unavailable too.

Attacking talisman Rafael Leao remains ready to serve, and has been involved in the most Serie A goals of any player in 2022 - 11 of his own and 11 assists. The Portuguese winger could possibly be joined by Ante Rebic, who has netted four goals against Juventus since joining the Rossoneri - no other player has scored more against them since 2019.

Rebic averages one goal every 49 minutes on average this season, while Juve's Arkadiusz Milik scores at a rate of one in every 78. The latter could return from a knock which saw him confined to the bench in midweek, partnering Dusan Vlahovic, who has yet to score at San Siro.

Max Allegri welcomed back Angel Di Maria against Maccabi Haifa, following a domestic suspension that kept him out of the win over Bologna and will also keep him out on Saturday.

Long-term absentees Paul Pogba and Federico Chiesa remain out of commission, but the latter recently returned to training and should feature before the end of the month. As Mattia De Sciglio is ruled out by a thigh injury sustained on Wednesday, Alex Sandro may be brought back into the first XI.

AC Milan possible starting lineup:
Tatarusanu; Kalulu, Gabbia, Tomori, Hernandez; Tonali, Bennacer; Pobega, Diaz, Leao; Giroud

Juventus possible starting lineup:
Szczesny; Danilo, Bonucci, Bremer, Sandro; Cuadrado, Locatelli, Rabiot, Kostic; Milik, Vlahovic

We say: AC Milan 1-1 Juventus

Milan and Juventus are two of the three teams to have lost the fewest Serie A matches in 2022 - and they could not be split in either of their meetings last term.

Only twice before have they drawn three times in a row, but such a result could be on the cards as the champions are still weakened by numerous injuries.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

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