AC Milan vs Atalanta
Stadio San Siro forms the backdrop for a mouth-watering top-four Serie A six-pointer between AC Milan and Atalanta.
AC Milan’s hopes of defending the Scudetto for the first time in the 21st century are long dead in the water, but Stefano Pioli’s men seem to be building a head of steam following a rotten seven-game winless patch (D2, L5). Indeed, ‘I Rossoneri’ have stitched together a hat-trick of 1-0 wins in the build-up to this clash, including last weekend’s hard-earned triumph at Serie A debutants Monza. Though they’ve stormed back into the top four, Milan cannot rest on their laurels, with sixth-placed Atalanta only three points adrift at the start of this round. However, Milan will pursue a piece of history this weekend as after racking up three wins and a draw in their last four top-flight H2Hs, they could go unbeaten in 5+ consecutive Serie A meetings with Atalanta for the first time in over a decade.
In the meantime, Atalanta’s patchy form has seen them suffer three defeats in their last four matches across all competitions (W1), including an underwhelming 2-1 home loss to promoted Lecce in their most recent Serie A outing. But San Siro has recently been a happy hunting ground for ‘La Dea.’ Before slumping to a 2-0 defeat in this corresponding fixture in 2021/22, they had gone unbeaten on their seven top-flight visits to Milan beforehand (W3, D4). After going winless on back-to-back Serie A travels (D1, L1), Gian Piero Gasperini’s side claimed a 2-0 victory at Lazio in their last away league game. Another success would see Atalanta win two successive top-flight matches on the road for the first time since a run of four in September 2022.