Spezia and AC Milan meet for just the second time in Serie A history when they clash in Liguria on Saturday night (kick-off 20:45).
PROBABLE LINE-UPS
Spezia (4-3-3): Provedel; Vignali, Erlic, Chabot, S. Bastoni; Maggiore, Ricci, Pobega; Agudelo, Galabinov, Gyasi.
Unavailable: Farias, Ferrer, Mattiello, Nzola, Piccoli, Terzi.
Milan (4-2-3-1): Donnarumma; Dalot, Tomori, Romagnoli, Hernandez; Bennacer, Kessié; Saelemaekers, Calhanoglu, Leao; Ibrahimovic.
Suspended: Calabria.
Unavailable: Diaz.
KEY STATISTICS
– AC Milan have won both matches in all competitions against Spezia (Coppa Italia in 2014 and Serie A last October), always scoring three goals.
– Spezia are the first team to collect more than 20 points (21 currently) after 21 seasonal games on their first ever Serie A season since Siena in 2003/04.
– In the three points per win era, Milan are the 18th team with at least 49 points after 21 Serie A seasonal games: all 17 previous teams finished in the top four, while 14 of these have finished the season in first position (Juventus are included in the 2004/05 and 2005/06 seasons).
– Milan’s last Serie A defeat away from San Siro dates back to 22nd December 2019 against Atalanta: more than 400 days have passed since then.
– Spezia have collected only 29% of their points in this Serie A season in home games (6/21), the lowest percentage.
– Milan have kept the most clean sheets in this Serie A season (eight), exactly double the total kept by Spezia (four).
– In the last game Emmanuel Gyasi scored his second goal in Serie A. However, the Spezia player is the striker who has played the most minutes without netting a goal in home games this season (807).
– Zlatan Ibrahimovic is the first Milan player to score 14 goals after the first 21 Serie A games played in a season since Stephan El Shaarawy in 2012/13 – the Swede could also become the oldest player to score 15 goals in a single Serie A season, overtaking Silvio Piola in 1951/52.
– Zlatan Ibrahimovic could become the first player since 2000 to find the net against 80 different teams in the top five European Leagues – Spezia will also be the 99th different opponent faced by the Milan striker in the top five European leagues.
– Since the beginning of December, Hakan Calhanoglu has provided seven assists in Serie A, the joint-most in the top five European leagues with Bayern Munich’s Kingsley Coman.
