AC MILAN VS SASSUOLO PREVIEW & PREDICTION
AC Milan seemed to make the connection with the top five, but the last two opponents threw a spanner in the works. The Milanese must now repack themselves against low-flyer Sassuolo.
AC Milan:
After the winter break under the leadership of Gennaro Gattuso, AC Milan passed one competitor after the other in the rankings and the top five even came into view. Just at the moment when AC Milan actually seemed to be making the connection, fate struck. When they visited Juventus, the men of Gattuso did not succeed in stunting and midweek the points were shared with fellow townsman Internazionale. So AC Milan had five points in the week-long time span, and as a result the gap with number five Lazio Roma grew to six points.
The game against Juventus seemed to be heading for a 1-1 draw, but towards the end it went wrong. Juan Cuadrado and Sami Khedira finally put the 3-1 final score on the board. The derby of Milan did not produce the desired result, but the red-black part of the city could have peace with it. Inter-striker Mauro Icardi missed the best chance of the match. Gattuso now hopes that his men will return home to Sassuolo.
Ignazio Abate and Andrea Conti are still on the side with injuries and therefore it is good news for AC Milan that Davide Calabria is fit. The rinse would be very thin if the right back also would fall away.
Sassuolo:
Sassuolo seemed to be moving rapidly to the bottom three places, but a small rebound caused some breathing space to develop. Just when the low flyer seemed to be coming under the line, the formation of trainer Giuseppe Iachini showed that there is certainly potential. With SPAL, Napoli and Chievo Verona, the points were shared and a crucial win was made when visiting Udinese. As a result, there is now some play as the gap with the eighteenth place grew to five points.
The 1-1 draw against Napoli gave Sassuolo an unprecedented boost and a lot of confidence for the midweek showdown with Chievo Verona. In Verona Sassuolo managed to prevent a defeat and that was actually a small miracle. Emanuele Giaccherini had put the home team on a 1-0 lead in the 72nd minute and twelve minutes later the match seemed to be decided when Sassuolo came up with nine men. With those nine men, Sassuolo managed to avoid defeat by a goal by Francesco Cassata in the 95th minute. Iachini will regard this as a winning point, but he will also realize that AC Milan will have to be played a lot better.
Iachini will have to improvise a lot in order to come to Sassuolo’s best eleven. Francesco Magnanelli and Claud Adjapong are suspended because of their red cards against Chievo Verona and behind the names of Edoardo Goldaniga and Domenico Berardi there is still a question mark. It could therefore be that Sassuolo with four new names to the kickoff must appear.
PREDICTION: AC Milan to win @ 1.49
