Vincenzo Montella’s resurgent AC Milan face a tricky trip to the Mapei Stadium on Sunday, when they will lock horns with Eusebio di Francesco’s inconsistent Sassuolo side.

 

The rossoneri’s previous outing saw them grab a vital 2-1 win over fellow top-four rivals Fiorentina, who slipped four points below them in the table due to the damaging defeat. Winter signing Gerard Deulofeu came up with another impressive performance as he scored Milan’s second goal on the night to hand them all three points, in what promised to be a season-defining clash for both sides.



Midfielder Juraj Kucka had scored the first goal of the game, only to be cancelled out by a Nikola Kalinic strike minutes later, before the La Masia graduate handed Montella’s men the all-important winner.

 

Sassuolo, on the hand, aren’t enjoying their best season of recent times and inconsistency has let them down. Their previous outing though, did yield all three points after victory at Udinese. A Gregoire Defrel brace was enough to leave Luigi Delneri’s men disappointed, after they had taken the lead early in the game through Seko Fofana.

 

The leaky defence has been a concern for Sassuolo, who have let in the fifth most number of goals in the league this season- 41, which is more than Empoli and Bologna. The attacking side of things hasn't gone to plan either with Di Francesco’s men having scored just 35 times this term, keeping them at 10th in the table for most goals scored. Out of those 35, veteran Alessandro Matri has scored six times, Defrel has racked up a tally of eight goals and young Lorenzo Pellegrini has bagged five.

 

As far as Milan are concerned, the recent three game unbeaten run has re-ignited some faith about finishing inside the top four. They’ve scored only one more goal than the Neroverdi this season and the irregularity of Carlos Bacca is one of the many reasons for this. Defensively, Milan are the seventh best in terms of goals conceded, but the recent injury concerns at the back have forced Montella into fielding a makeshift back-line in the past five league outings.

 

Both the sides have already met each other twice this season, with both meetings ending in victory for Milan. An entertaining 4-3 Serie A clash at San Siro in October was a match to savour, while the 2-1 win in the Coppa Italia Round of 16 was a much closer game that saw the rossoneri emerge victorious.

 

For Sunday’s game, Milan will still have to deal with a host of injuries as they’re likely to be without Davide Calabria, Alessio Romagnoli, Luca Antonelli, Mattia de Sciglio, Giacomo Bonaventura and Riccardo Montolivo.

Di Francesco will be without the trio of Francesco Magnanelli, Davide Biondini and young Pol Lirola, all of whom are not expected  to return until the end of March.

 

 

AC Milan: Donarrumma; Abate, Gomez, Paletta, Vangioni; Kucka, Locatelli, Pasalic, Deulofeu, Bacca, Ocampos

 

Sassuolo: Consigli; Gazzola, Acerbi, Peluso, Dell’Orco; Duncan, Aquilani, Pellegrini; Politani, Matri, Berardi
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Kaustubh Pandey