AC Milan will look to cement their Europa League spot when they host Luciano Spalletti’s Roma at the San Siro this evening in what is expected to be an exciting clash between two of Italy’s biggest clubs.

 

Vincenzo Montella’s men have won only one of their previous five, losing one and drawing three. The draw against city rivals Inter did show the resilience that the side has, but it hasn’t been enough to take them above either fifth-placed Atalanta or fourth-placed Lazio.

 

As far as Roma are concerned, their current position in the table would be enough to suggest how good a season they have had already. Napoli’s win over Cagliari on Saturday meant that they did overtake the capital side in the table, but a win for Roma on Sunday could take them back to the second spot, one point ahead of the Partenopei.

 

Spalletti’s men did lose their previous game against city-rivals Lazio, but it was their first loss in the league since they were beaten by Napoli themselves back in early March. Their last five league games has yielded three wins, one draw and the defeat to the Biancocelesti. 

 

They are the second highest scoring side in the division, having found the back of the net 75 times, six less than Maurizio Sarri’s men. Former Manchester City man Edin Dzeko has been their highest goal-getter, scoring 25 times in the league and the Bosnian happens to be the Serie A’s top scorer too. Former Chelsea man Mohamed Salah has scored 13 goals, three more than Radja Nainggolan. 

 

Defensively, they are the second best too. Another former Premier League flop, Federico Fazio, has delivered the goods for them at the back this term. Spalletti’s men have let in only 31, eight more than Juventus, who boast the best defensive record in all of Europe’s top five leagues.

 

The last league outing between the two sides yielded a 1-0 win for La Magica, a Nainggolan strike in the second half enough to give Roma three important points. While, Milan have lacked decisiveness in the goalscoring department, they have the fourth-best defence in the league. They have let in only seven goals more than Roma.

 

They have dealt with a fair number of injury problems this season, but with the campaign now heading towards a close, they are heading to a stage where a lot of their players are fit again. Juraj Kucka is suspended for two games and will miss out on Sunday, but the trio of Giacomo Bonaventura, Ignazio Abate and Alessio Romagnoli are back in training and could be feature soon. Luca Antonelli though, is likely to miss the game and the remainder of the season, as he is currently recovering from a knee injury.

 

For Roma, Kevin Strootman’s blatant dive against Lazio means he’ll miss the next two games, while Spalletti will also not have the suspended Antonio Rudiger at his disposal.

 

 

AC Milan: Donnarumma; De Sciglio, Paletta, Zapata, Vangioni; Sosa, Locatelli, Pasalic; Suso, Bacca, Deulofeu

 

AS Roma: Szczesny; Peres, Manolas, Fazio, Emerson; Paredes, De Rossi, Nainggolan; Salah, Dzeko, El Shaarawy