Third-placed AC Milan host surprise package Atalanta at Giuseppe Meazza Stadium on Saturday in a clash between two teams that are trying to recover from defeats. Last season AC Milan have been unable to beat Atalanta, the game in Milan finished 0-0 while Atalanta grabbed a 2-1 victory at home. Atalanta have won three of the last six matches against AC Milan, and the Rossoneri have not beaten Atalanta at home since 2014.
AC Milan saw their five-game unbeaten streak snapped on Monday as second-placed AS Roma defeated them 1-0. It's still a good season for AC Milan compared to last campaign, but they will have to work hard to remain in the top three as both Napoli and Lazio are just one point behind them. They have won six out of their eight home games so far, losing just one. Riccardo Montolivo and Davide Calabria are the only injury concerns for head coach Vincenzo Montella.
Atalanta have surprised everybody this season, they have been near the top three for the best part of the campaign. However, their six-game winning streak came to an end when Juventus beat them 3-1, and they haven't been able to recover as they lost the next game 3-1 at home against Udinese. In fact, they lost six games overall this season and all those defeats came in pairs of two one after the other. Etrit Berisha and Alberto Paloschi are unavailable through injury.
Probable line-ups:
AC Milan: Donnarumma - Abate, Romagnoli, Paletta, De Sciglio - Bonaventura, Locatelli, Kucka - Suso, Bacca, Niang
Atalanta: Sportiello - Toloi, Masiello, Caldara - Conti, Gagliardini, Kessie, Kurtic, Spinazzola - Gomez, Petagna
My prediction: 1-1 draw.
Here are the odds for the match at Bet365:
AC Milan win - 1.91
Draw - 3.40
Atalanta win - 4.00
12/21/16, 11:12:31 PM
