Juventus host AC Milan at the Juventus Stadium in Serie A on Saturday night, with both sides looking to continue their good recent domestic form.
The Old Lady will be looking to follow-up their 3-1 victory over Empoli last time out, while the Rossoneri could only manage a 0-0 draw against Atalanta at Stadio Giuseppe Meazza before the international break.
The Bianconeri are currently sitting in seventh position in the standings on 18 points after round 12, nine behind joint leaders Fiorentina and Inter on 27 points. After losing their opening home game 1-0 against Udinese, the Old lady are now unbeaten at the Juventus Stadium in their last five fixtures, winning three and drawing two, defeating Atalanta and Torino in their latest games in Turin.
The Diavolo, meanwhile, find themselves in sixth place on 20 points after 12 games. Sinisa Mihajlovic’s men have shown inconsistency on the road so far this campaign, winning two, drawing one and suffering three defeats already in six outings. But with a 3-1 victory over Lazio in their last away fixture, the former Sampdoria tactician will be hoping his side have turned the corner away from the San Siro.
The Old Lady took maximum points from the two meetings between the teams last season, winning 1-0 in Milan thanks to a Carlos Tevez strike in September. The return game in February saw the Bianconeri run out 3-1 winners, with Tevez again on the mark, while Leonardo Bonucci and Alvaro Morata also got their names on the score sheet.
A win for the Turin side on Saturday would be their sixth straight victory over the Rossoneri in a row in Serie A, beating the previous best of five, achieved between 1980-1984 and again between 2013-2015.
Since the 2005/2006 season the sides have met 18 times in Serie A with the Old Lady winning nine, Milan recording five victories and the other four fixtures ending in draws.
Juve coach Massimiliano Allegri’s has doubts over the fitness of goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon and defender Stephan Lichtsteiner, but both are expected to start. Five goal top-scorer Paulo Dybala should start up-front with Juan Cuadrado and Alvaro Morata in a 4-3-3 formation.
The Rossoneri could see regular right full-back Mattia De Sciglio being replaced by Ignazio Abate, while there are doubts of the fitness of defender Alex. Top-scorer on six goals Carlos Bacca is expected to lead the line with Alessio Cerci and M’Baye Niang playing support roles in a 4-3-3 formation.
Form Guide: Juventus (D-W-L-W-W) Milan (D-W-W-W-D)
Expected Starting XI’s:
Juventus: Buffon; Lichtsteiner, Bonucci, Chiellini, Evra; Khedira, Marchisio, Pogba; Cuadrado, Morata, Dybala.
AC Milan: Donnarumma; Abate, Romagnoli, Mexes, Antonelli; Kucka, Montolivo, Bonaventura; Cerci, Bacca, Niang.
