AC Milan vs Fiorentina

Out-of-form Serie A champions AC Milan will be looking to enter the World Cup break on a high when they take on resurgent Fiorentina at the Stadio San Siro.

An underwhelming scoreless draw away to newly-promoted Cremonese in midweek Serie A action left Milan’s Scudetto defence in tatters as Stefano Pioli’s men look to bounce back straight away. Back to San Siro, where they’ve won all but one of their seven league games this season (L1), ‘I Rossoneri’ will be confident about keeping Fiorentina at bay twice in a row in Serie A for the first time since 2016. Milan won this corresponding fixture 1-0 last season, but their scoring form in Lombardia promises far more entertainment this time around. The reigning Italian champions have netted a resounding average of 2.3 goals per game across their last ten Serie A home encounters, racking up nine victories in the process. By contrast, they’ve scored under 1.5 goals in three of their four previous top-flight H2Hs against Fiorentina at home.

Meanwhile, a dramatic 4-3 home loss to Inter Milan in mid-October has been a turning point for Fiorentina, with Vincenzo Italiano’s men putting together three successive Serie A wins in the aftermath. However, each of those triumphs came at the expense of the sides starting this round in the bottom five, meaning the visitors’ mini-revival could be a false sign of improvement. That may not necessarily be the case, though, with ‘La Viola’ going unbeaten on their last three Serie A travels (W2, D1). Avoiding defeat at San Siro would see them make it four consecutive away league matches without losing for the first time under Italiano. If you’re looking for an omen, Fiorentina have lost only one of their last 11 Serie A showdowns against Milan in the first half of the season (W6, D4).