Reasons to Believe AC Milan Are Set to Emerge from Their Slumber Against Lazio

Since standing alone in third place in Serie A, Lazio have taken a slight tumble in recent weeks, losing their last match at home against Napoli by a 1-0 margin.

Before that, they drew against Roma. While both of these matches were certainly difficult, Milan could exploit the recent struggles from the Biancocelesti and finally get back on track.

Milan are coming off a disappointing result in a 1-0 loss at home against Atalanta, where they failed to score a goal despite holding more than 70 percent of the possession and flinging in more than 30 crosses into the box, only to see most of them met by an Atalanta defender. 

The Rossoneri have seemingly had a harder time getting a result against a provincial side that lock themselves down defensively rather than in a more open match against a higher-echelon team.

Against Lazio, expect a free-flowing match where both sides will try to break on the counter rapidly, a style that should suit Milan very well given their new attacking trident.

According to the latest probable lineup sheet from La Gazzetta, Milan will deploy Jeremy Menez, Stephan El Shaarawy and Giacomo Bonaventura as the front three. Both Menez and El Shaarawy do very well in open play, especially when they have to hit out on the counter and can exploit their searing pace and change of direction very well.

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Milan's biggest problem against Atalanta was creating opportunities from crosses. When Jeremy Menez is leading the line, this is certainly not the most effective way to get on the scoresheet. Then again, this is a problem Filippo Inzaghi will need to figure out, a problem that is usually only seen against defensive-minded provincial sides that keep an organized shape at the back.

El Shaarawy and Menez should have plenty of opportunities to take on the opposing full-back in a one-on-one situation, and more often than not, they come out victorious in that battle.

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Another positive aspect going into the match is that Milan seem to play up to their opposition. The best performances we've seen in recent times from the Rossoneri have been in the friendly win against Real Madrid, and then the two clean-sheet performances in back-to-back Serie A matches against Roma and Napoli.

Lazio is another opponent that Milan should take quite seriously, so we could see a hungrier side looking to get back into the top five in the standings.

Lastly, Milan's defensive line should look much different than it did against Atalanta. The lone Atalanta goal came from a miscommunication between Philippe Mexes and Daniele Bonera. Mexes drifted towards the run of Maxi Moralez, leaving German Denis all alone to exploit the game in between the two defenders. Bonera failed to switch over to Denis, leaving him all alone to receive the pass inside the box and shoot it first time past Diego Lopez.

Alex will be back in the lineup alongside Mexes, and Pablo Armero is expected to start at left-back rather than the maligned Daniele Bonera.

If Milan want to avoid sinking even further into mid-table mediocrity, they must get a result against Lazio and give the fans some hope going forward.

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