AC Milan will host Napoli on Sunday night at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza in Serie A at 2045 CET.
Both sides each have nine points, putting them 10th and 11th in the Serie A rankings, six short of leaders Fiorentina and Inter.
Milan lost the previous match against Genoa and have overall not impressed during these first weeks of the season. Napoli on the other hand, seem to be growing match after match and they beat reigning champions Juventus 2-1 last week.
The Rossoneri have lost three of their past four encounters with Napoli, with the 2-0 victory of last December as the only victory in their past eight clashes. However, Milan’s coach Sinisa Mihajlovic is unbeaten against Maurizio Sarri, with a victory and a draw last season when he was coach of Sampdoria and Sarri of Empoli.
The Serbian coach brought in new faces from the transfer market, including his pupil Alessio Romagnoli from Roma, Europa League winner Carlos Bacca from Sevilla and Mario Balotelli made his return after a disappointing year with Liverpool.
The young defender Romagnoli was sent off last week and is banned for this match. Philippe Mexes still out injured and Alex is also having some physical problems. Thus, in defence the young Brazilian Rodrigo Ely may start for the second time this season alongside Cristian Zapata. Ignazio Abate is still out while Luca Antonelli is again fit and may start as a left-back with one between Mattia De Sciglio and young sensation Davide Calabria on the right.
In midfield the only doubt is whether or not Nigel De Jong will play or Juraj Kucka will take the place of the former Manchester City player. Up front the attacking duo of Bacca and Luiz Adriano will likely start, as Balotelli had some muscular problems in training.
Napoli on the other hand have no injuries or suspensions. Lorenzo Insigne, who had to be substituted during the Juventus match, is fit and ready to play together with Gonzalo Higuain and Jose Callejon in the attacking trio.
Moreover, Maurizio Sarri left club captain Marek Hamsik and Elseid Hysaj at home for Europa League clash with Legia Warsaw so they will be fresh and ready to play in Milan. The former Empoli coach may have only one doubt in defence between Kalidou Koulibaly and former Tottenham player Vlad Chiriches to play alongside Raul Albiol.
Form Guide: Milan (W-L-W-W-L) Napoli (D-W-W-D-W)
Expected Starting XIs:
Milan: Diego Lopez, De Sciglio, Ely, Zapata, Antonelli, De Jong, Montolivo, Bonaventura, Bertolacci, Bacca, Luiz Adriano.
Napoli: Reina, Hysaj, Koulibaly, Albiol, Ghoulam, Allan, Jorginho, Hamsik, Insigne, Higuain, Callejon.
