Both AC Milan and Roma will be looking to get the New Year under way in a positive note when they lock horns at San Siro for their first Serie A action of the 2022 on Thursday night with kickoff at 20:30.
AC Milan had a great opening to the 2021-22 Serie A campaign along with Napoli with the clubs spending most of the early stages of the first half of the season alternating the top two spots of the league. However both sides hit a slump with Stefano Pioli’s men slightly losing their way at towards the end of the half but still remain second in the table heading into the second half with Napoli following them in the third.
Milan ended 2021 on a victorious note as they edged Empoli 4-2 at away putting an end to their three-match losing streak across all competitions. The win also saw them move into the second place I the league rankings with four points behind their city rivals Inter Milan.
The Rossoneri will be looking to stay in the title race during the second half of the campaign hence will look to open with a positive result here. They will fancy their chances as they have been in a good home form this season claiming six wins from their nine home matches so far. Also, Milan have not lost to Roma in their last three meetings with Roma at San Siro claiming two wins and a draw in the run.
Meanwhile Roma endured a difficult opening to the season and appeared to be struggling with inconsistency for most of the first half of the campaign. However, Roma ended the year on a high note as they finished with a four-match unbeaten run in all competitions claiming three wins in the run.
The run has rekindled the club’s push for a top-four finish as they now occupy the sixth position in Serie A rankings with 32 points to their name on the board, just six points outside the top-four.
However, Roma have been struggling with their away form this season with five defeats from their last eight matches on the road. They also still have problems at the back as they have just kept one clean sheet in their last seven league matches.
Milan vs Roma head to head
Both sides have met in 63 encounters since 1993 with Milan claiming 24 victories while Roma have claimed 19 victories and there have been 20 draws.
- Roma 1-2 Milan 31/10/21
- Roma 1-2 Milan 28/02/21
- Milan 3-3 Roma 26/10/20
- Milan 2-0 Roma 28/06/20
- Roma 2-1 Milan 27/10/19
Home
- Empoli 2-4 Milan
- Milan 0-1 Napoli
- Udinese 1-1 Milan
- Milan 1-2 Liverpool
- Milan 2-0 Salernitana
Away
- Roma 1-1 Sampdoria
- Atalanta 1-4 Roma
- Roma 2-0 Spezia
- CSKA Sofia 2-3 Roma
- Roma 0-3 Inter
Milan team news
Milan will be without Alessandro Plizzari, Simon Kjaer and Pietro Pellegri due to injuries while Ciprian Tatarusanu will miss due to Covid-19 protocals and Ismael Bennacer, Frank Kessie and Fode Toure are unavailable.
Roma team news
Roma will be without Leonardo Spinazzola through an injury while Daniel Fuzato and Borja Mayoral will due to testing positive for Covid-19 and Ebrima Darboe and Amadou Diawara are both unavailable.
Prediction and odds
- Milan win
- Goals over 2.5
- Both sides to score
