Today as part of the 23rd round of the Italian Serie A, Frosinone will host Milan on its home ground. Last week, Rossoneri played a draw with "Bologna" (2:2) and now they are 8 points behind the leading "Inter", while "Canaries" are just 5 points ahead of the relegation zone.
Frosinone: Turati; Monterisi, Okoli, Romagnoli, Valeri; Macitelli, Larnechea, Harrui; Sule, Jorge, Sec.
Milan: Maignan; Calabria, Kjær, Gabbia, Hernandez; Reinders, Adli; Pulisic, Loftus-Cheek, Leão; Giroud.
As the winners of last season's Serie B, "Canaries" should be battling for survival in the elite division. Yet they pleasantly surprise their supporters and hold a respectable 13th place in the league table, 5 points above the red line. The team, managed by Eusebio Di Francesco, had a disastrous winter stretch and failed to win 7 matches in a row (1 draw and 6 defeats). However, in the last two rounds, they managed to break this negative trend: Firstly, "Frosinone" beat "Cagliari" 3:1, then drew with "Verona" over the weekend (1:1) thanks to a Kaio Jorge goal in the closing minutes. Now they return to Stadio Stirpe, where they gathered 20 points in 11 clashes, as much as in their previous two Serie A campaigns combined at this stage of the season.
This weekend, "Frosinone" will miss several players due to injuries: defenders Bonifazi, Lirola, Marcizek and Oiyono, as well as Kalai, Lusuardi (defenders) and Baez (forward). Midfielder Barrenechea, winger Soule (9 goals for the national team), and loanee from "Juventus" forward Kaio Jorge will be in charge of creating goals. After a disastrous start to the season, the Brazilian seems to be finding his form. This winter, the club strengthened its ranks with the transfers of Bonifaci (Bologna) and Valeri (Cremonese) defenders, young attacking midfielder Vural (17 years old, Hammarby), and wingers Zortea (Atalanta), Sekka (Torino) and Gjemsis (Rouen). Seeking playing time, Avella (goalkeeper) and Lulic (midfielder) have gone on loan to Serie B.
While "Inter" and "Juventus" are fighting for the Scudetto, "Milan" has firmly established itself in the 3rd place in the Serie A table. Thereby, the Lombards have a good chance to participate in the next Champions League. Unbeaten in their last 7 rounds (5 victories and 2 draws), "Rossoneri" is progressing rapidly. Last weekend, however, they ended a series of 4 wins (over Sassuolo, Empoli, Roma, and Udinese) with a home draw against "Bologna" (2:2) – with a brace from Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Riccardo Orsolini equalizing from the penalty spot in the 92nd minute. Out of 25 goals conceded by the guests in the league this season, 17 happened in the second half, whereas during the first half, they only have eight. Despite this, "Milan" maintains one of the best home records in Serie A, however, their away performance is somewhat worse with 21 points out of a possible 33.
Coming 3rd in their Champions League group, Stefano Pioli's charges will play against "Rennes" in the Europa League playoffs. This weekend "Milan" will be without the injured defenders Tomori, Chiau, Kalulu and Caldara, and midfielders Bennaser and Pobega. Nigerian winger Chukwuez is still with his national team for the Africa Cup. Olivier Giroud remains a key attacking figure for "Rossoneri" and is expected to start (10 goals and 7 assists) being supported by Leao and Loftus-Cheek. This winter, defender Gabbia returned from a loan spell at "Villarreal", while promising defender Terracciano moved from "Verona". Experienced Krunić has left for Fenerbahçe, while Daniell Maldini (Monza), Luca Romero (Almeria), and Pellegri (Salernitana) went on loan.
In the first leg at San Siro, Frosinone was defeated with a score of 3:1, yet "Rossoneri" have never lost to "Canaries" in Serie A.
Milan, of course, surpasses opponents in class and should easily take all three points home. The hosts managed to win only once in their last seven games and had no chance against "Rossoneri" at San Siro. My prediction – a victory for the favourites.
# | Team | P | W | D | L | GD | G | PTS | |
1 | Inter | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 8:2 | 7 | |
2 | Juventus | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 6:0 | 7 | |
3 | Torino | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5:3 | 7 | |
4 | Udinese | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4:2 | 7 | |
5 | Verona | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 5:3 | 6 | |
6 | Napoli | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5:4 | 6 | |
7 | Empoli | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3:2 | 5 | |
8 | Lazio | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6:5 | 4 | |
9 | Parma | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4:4 | 4 | |
10 | Genoa | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | -1 | 3:4 | 4 | |
11 | Fiorentina | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3:3 | 3 | |
12 | Atalanta | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | -1 | 5:6 | 3 | |
13 | Lecce | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | -5 | 1:6 | 3 | |
14 | AC Milan | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | -1 | 5:6 | 2 | |
15 | Monza | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | -1 | 2:3 | 2 | |
16 | AS Roma | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | -1 | 1:2 | 2 | |
17 | Cagliari | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | -1 | 1:2 | 2 | |
18 | Bologna | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | -3 | 2:5 | 2 | |
19 | Venezia | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | -3 | 1:4 | 1 | |
20 | Como | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | -4 | 1:5 | 1 | |
1 | Inter | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6:0 | 6 | |
2 | Udinese | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3:1 | 6 | |
3 | Napoli | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5:1 | 6 | |
4 | Juventus | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3:0 | 4 | |
5 | Lazio | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5:3 | 4 | |
6 | Parma | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3:2 | 4 | |
7 | Torino | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2:1 | 3 | |
8 | Verona | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3:3 | 3 | |
9 | Lecce | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1:4 | 3 | |
10 | Fiorentina | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2:2 | 2 | |
11 | Cagliari | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1:1 | 2 | |
12 | Bologna | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2:2 | 2 | |
13 | Empoli | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0:0 | 1 | |
14 | Genoa | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2:4 | 1 | |
15 | AC Milan | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2:2 | 1 | |
16 | Atalanta | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0:0 | 0 | |
17 | Monza | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0:1 | 0 | |
18 | AS Roma | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1:2 | 0 | |
19 | Venezia | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0:1 | 0 | |
20 | Como | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0:0 | 0 | |
1 | Torino | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3:2 | 4 | |
2 | Empoli | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3:2 | 4 | |
3 | Juventus | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3:0 | 3 | |
4 | Verona | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2:0 | 3 | |
5 | Genoa | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1:0 | 3 | |
6 | Atalanta | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5:6 | 3 | |
7 | Monza | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2:2 | 2 | |
8 | AS Roma | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0:0 | 2 | |
9 | Inter | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2:2 | 1 | |
10 | Udinese | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1:1 | 1 | |
11 | Fiorentina | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1:1 | 1 | |
12 | AC Milan | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3:4 | 1 | |
13 | Venezia | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1:3 | 1 | |
14 | Como | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1:5 | 1 | |
15 | Napoli | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0:3 | 0 | |
16 | Lazio | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1:2 | 0 | |
17 | Parma | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1:2 | 0 | |
18 | Lecce | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0:2 | 0 | |
19 | Cagliari | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0:1 | 0 | |
20 | Bologna | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0:3 | 0 |
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