AC Milan vs. Sampdoria: Team News, Predicted Lineups, Live Stream, TV Info
Sinisa Mihajlovic meets his old team for the first time as AC Milan welcomes Sampdoria to the San Siro on Saturday.
Date: Saturday, November 28
Time: 8:45 local time, 7:45 UK time, 2:45 EST
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Venue: San Siro, Milan
TV Info: BT Sport Europe (UK), beIN Sports (US)
Live Stream: beIN Sports Connect (US)
AC Milan and Sampdoria are a pair of teams in transition. Milan fans thought that Mihajlovic may have found the right formula after results improved dramatically after the October international break.
Spurred by a change to a 4-3-3 formation, the Rossoneri drew against Torino before reeling off three straight wins against Sassuolo, Chievo and Lazio. That last match in particular made it look like Milan had turned a corner. The 3-1 win was a comprehensive demolition, with Lazio never coming close to being in it.
But just like last year's team—just as everything was looking up—they laid an egg. It came against Atalanta, just before the international break. The final score was 0-0, but Milan were lucky not to lose 3-0. Some sparkling saves by Gianluigi Donnarumma were the only thing between them and an embarrassing home defeat.
Last weekend's game against Juventus showed that performance wasn't an anomaly. Milan has a serious issue with creativity. With Andrea Bertolacci out injured, the midfield is seriously underpowered and forced to rely on defensive-minded players like Juraj Kucka and Andrea Poli. Giacomo Bonaventura is the only player who can reliably unlock defenses.
Samp, of course, have been in even rougher form. They started the year with an embarrassing crash-out in the Europa League. They managed a hot start to the league season, but that form quickly evaporated. They've won only one game since September and have sunk to 12th place, a slide that cost Mihajlovic's replacement, Walter Zenga, his job.
Zenga was replaced by Vincenzo Montella, one of the most sought-after coaches on the market in Italy. He built Fiorentina into a perennial top-five team and is now charged with taking the team he played for from 1996 to 1999 to those same heights.
His first game last week was a 1-0 loss to Udinese, but the team looked better. Given Montella's track record at Fiorentina and Catania, Samp's fortunes may begin to look up, especially considering some of the players he's going to have at his disposal.
Form Lines
| AC Milan | Sampdoria |
| L 1-0 @ Juventus | L 1-0 @ Udinese |
| D 0-0 vs. Atalanta | L 2-0 vs. Fiorentina |
| W 3-1 @ Lazio | D 1-1 @ Chievo |
| W 1-0 vs. Chievo | D 1-1 vs. Empoli |
| W 2-1 vs. Sassuolo | W 4-1 vs Hellas Verona |
Predicted Formations
| AC Milan (4-3-3) | Sampdoria (4-3-3) |
| Donnarumma | Viviano |
| Abate Alex Romagnoli Antonelli | De Silvestri Silvestre Moisander Regini |
| Kucka Montolivo Bonaventura | Soriano Fernando Baretto |
| Cerci Bacca Niang | Carbonero Muriel Eder |
Players to Watch
As noted, Bonaventura has been one of Milan's only truly creative players. Whether he's been deployed as a winger or a trequartista, the 26-year-old has affected games as few of his teammates have.
With injuries to deal with in midfield and the emergence of M'Baye Niang as an alternative on the left wing, Bonaventura may be dropped deeper into midfield in this game, as he was against Juventus on Saturday.
While this solves the problem of having Bonaventura and Niang on the field at once and covers for the injury to Bertolacci, it also poses its problems. Bonaventura will be forced further back from the forwards, limiting his ability to link up without charging forward. Additionally, the box-to-box role can be a tough one for him to fill effectively as it highlights his deficiencies as a defender.
Milan need some magic from him, but he needs to produce that while still keeping the midfield around Riccardo Montolivo locked.
On Samp's side, no one has been in better form than Eder. The Brazilian-born Italy international is a controversial pick for the Azzurri due to his status as an oriundo—a foreign-born player on the national team. But it's hard to pick against him when he plays so darn well.
The winger is tied for second on the Serie A scoring chart with nine goals. Over the last five games, he's potted three and added an assist. A candidate to break out at any point in any game, he must be salivating over the opportunity to overpower a Milan defense that is still finding its feet.
Look for him to be Samp's most dangerous man on Saturday.
Key Matchup
The battle in front of Milan's goal is going to turn into a battle of old versus young.
Thirty-three-year-old Alex has, for the most part, played well as Alessio Romagnoli's defensive partner. He's pretty stalwart when the ball is in front of him—but if a quick player manages to get in behind, it can be difficult for him to catch up.
Luis Muriel, who has scored four times and assisted twice this season, has that kind of pace. He's going to look for balls over the top or through the defense and get into space to test Milan's 16-year-old goalkeeper Donnarumma.
His job is also to be so much of a threat that he attracts more than one man, leaving space for players like Eder to cut inside or Roberto Soriano to run the channels. If he can create space for his teammates, it could spell curtains for Milan—once that back line gets out of whack, things can get dicey.
Odds (via Odds Shark)
Milan win: 5-9
Sampdoria win: 19-4
Draw: 29-10
