AC Milan face their sternest test yet when they welcome Roma for this Serie A game, with both sides actually habouring European prospects for next season.
Serie A 2019/2020
Date: Sunday June 28
Kick-off: 16:15
Venue: San Siro
Milan will hope to build on the big win they picked up in Lecce last time out, with all of Samu Castillejo, Giacomo Bonaventura, Ante Rebic and Rafael Leão scoring to give I Rossoneri a convincing 4-1 victory.
Stefano Pioli’s will now go for their first successive league wins since January here, a feat which would more than prove efficient in their ambitions to break into the top six.
With Lazio, Juventus and Napoli lined up as part of their next four league matches, they will need to be at their best to avoid slipping into obscurity in the race for European football qualification for next season.
Fifth-placed Roma have won all of their last three Serie A games, and beat Sampdoria 2-1 coming into this one.
In the knowledge they already have the
safety net of a place in the Europa League by virtue of their standing on the table, Paulo Fonseca can rally his team for a late push for a Champions League place but will have a six-point gap on Atalanta to try to reel in.
Team news
Milan
Simon Kjaer is reportedly carrying a knock from the Lecce game alongside Leo Duarte, and are both likely to miss out here.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic is still expected to be out of action for much longer.
Roma
Pau López and Nicolò Zaniolo are the only absentees for Roma, with the trio of Gianluca Mancini, Lorenzo Pellegrini and Cengiz Ünder having returned to full fitness.
Head to Head
In 65 competitive meetings between these two sides in history, Milan have won 23 times to Roma’s 19. 23 clashes have been drawn.
Team form
Milan last five competitive games: WDLDW
Roma last five competitive games: WWDWW
Betting tips
This is a crucial game for both teams’ European ambitions next season, so neither can afford to lose ground. It is supposedly a tight one, and one which could see both sides sit deep and only venture out of own halves on rare occasions. For the first time since 2004, Milan will be targeting successive home wins over Roma, but we think both sides should share the spoils in this game. A draw is priced 12/5 here.
