Vincenzo Montella’s AC Milan will have the opportunity to cement their top four hopes on Monday evening, when they travel to Turin to take on Sinisa Mihajlovic’s Torino side at the Stadio Olimpico Grande Torino.

 

The rossoneri’s SuperCoppa Italia win over Juventus on penalty shoot-outs meant that they have a game in hand over the likes of Roma, Napoli, Lazio and sides like Inter and Atalanta, who are currently placed below them in the table. The recent win over Cagliari did come late in the game, but the performance was again indicative of the tenacity that the side has displayed throughout this season. Milan are currently four points adrift of fourth-placed Lazio and nine points behind table-toppers Juventus.

 

New signing, goalkeeper Marco Storari, is unlikely to start after having joined recently on loan from Cagliari. Torino though, could hand a Serie A debut to loan signing Juan Iturbe, who recently joined from Roma. The Granata are one of the top scoring sides and currently have the fourth best record in Serie A (36) which is eight more than tonight’s opponents. 



 

The performances of Andrea Belotti, who reportedly had a recent bid from Arsenal rejected, and that of Iago Falque, have been crucial to their goals for tally. Summer signing Adem Ljajic has also been rejuvinated under Mihajlovic, who acquired him for an €8.5 million fee from Roma.

 

It’s at the back that Torino have had problems; they’ve conceded the sixth most amount of goals this season, more than the likes of Sampdoria, Udinese and Chievo, who lie below them in the table. Their defensive situation is completely opposite to Milan, who have the third best record in Serie A. The defensive pairing of Alessio Romagnoli and Gabriel Paletta has been a key aspect of that.

 

The sides have already met twice this season, with Monday’s game being their third. Milan have triumphed in both of them and the recent Coppa Italia win ensured the rossoneri’s progress into the quarter-finals of the competition. Their last league meeting resulted in a 3-2 win for Milan, for whom Carlos Bacca grabbed an impressive hat-trick to win a thrilling game. 

 

As far as injuries and suspensions are concerned, Torino will not have Afriyie Acquah due to AFCON 2017 duties and Cristian Molinaro is yet to recover from his knee injury. Milan doesn’t have any significant injury worries, apart from the long-term absence of Riccardo Montolivo.
 

 

 

Torino: Hart; Zappacosta, Rossettini, Castan, Barreca; Benassi, Valdifiori, Baselli; Iago Falque, Belotti, Ljajic

 

AC Milan: Donnarumma; Abate, Paletta, Romagnoli, De Sciglio; Locatelli, Kucka, Pasalic; Bonaventura, Bacca, Suso