AC Milan v Empoli – Preview: Both sides still after first league win under new coaches

Date: 27th August 2015 at 3:00pm
Written by:

Empoli at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza on Saturday night.

The Rossoneri failed to begin the campaign in the way they would have liked last weekend with a 2-0 defeat at Fiorentina, giving Sinisa Mihajlovic a loss in his first league game on the Milan bench.

Empoli have also gone through a managerial transition this summer and are suffering the same problems after they lost 3-1 at home to Chievo in Marco Giampaolo’s first league game since replacing Maurizio Sarri as coach.

The history between both sides in Serie A gives the hosts the edge, with 12 victories coming in the 20 games they’ve played in the top flight and only two losses, most recently in the eighth round of the 2007/08 season.

Two draws and a win for Milan have taken place since then, with the most recent fixture ending in a 1-1 draw.

Milan are still active in the transfer market and a return for Liverpool outcast Mario Balotelli is complete, and he could make an appearance this weekend although it is unlikely.

It is unknown whether Gabriel Paletta will feature given speculation linking him with a move away from the club , while this could be Riccardo Montolivo’s final game for the club after being linked with Juventus recently.

Rodrigy Ely will not play a part in defence after being sent off last weekend 36 minutes into his league debut and Alex looks set to be sidelined after an expected move to Brazil has been gathering momentum.

Jeremy Menez, M’Baye Niang and Phillipe Mexes are all still ruled out after picking up knocks pre-season.

Empoli, meanwhile, still have Vincent Laurini injured but Lorenzo Tonelli is expected to start again after being suspended for the game against Chievo.

Other than Laurini, Sarri will have a full squad to choose from, but he will probably make some changes to avoid another loss this weekend.

Form Guide: AC Milan (L-W) Empoli (L-L)

Expected starting XIs

AC Milan: Diego Lopez; Antonelli, Romagnoli, Zapata, De Sciglio; Bonaventura, De Jong, Bertolacci; Honda; Luiz Adriano, Bacca

Empoli: Skorupski; Mario Rui, Tonelli, Camporese, Bittante; Diousse, Zielinski; Pucciarelli, Saponara, Croce; Maccarone

 

Comments are closed.