The latest round of Serie A games is upon us, where Milan, Juventus and Inter will all have to avoid various pitfalls against their respective opponents, Apollo Heyes highlights.
Milan will take on Hellas Verona on September 23 at 14.00 UK time, with Juventus taking on Sassuolo later at 17.00. The following day, Empoli will host Inter at 11:30.
With all three teams neck and neck in the early stages of the Serie A title race, none can afford to slip out in their provincial outings, adding extra tension to matches already awash with risks.
Milan vs Hellas Verona
It wasn’t that long ago when Milan last faced Hellas Verona, hosting the Gialloblu at San Siro on June 4 in the final round of games in the 2022-23 season. It was a strong note for the Rossoneri’s season to end on, especially considering their inconsistencies across the campaign.
Milan flew to a 3-1 win that June afternoon, with goals from Olivier Giroud and Rafael Leao securing all three points for the club. Davide Farioni picked up the consolation goal for Verona, which gave them hope in the 72nd minute before Leao’s brace in the final seven minutes killed off the game.
Looking back at that match, it showed that Verona didn’t need much to find the back of the net – a long throw from Fabio Depaoli, a flick from Darko Lazovic and a header from Farioni. The Gialloblu only produced 0.82 xG that game, taking six shots and playing a paltry 103 passes, and still almost escaped with a point.
Milan haven’t lost to Verona in their last nine meetings, with that defeat coming in December 2017, but are facing a new-look Gialloblu under the guidance of Marco Baroni, whose Lecce held the Rossoneri to a 2-2 draw last season.
The Veneto side edged out a 2-1 win over Roma last month despite taking five shots to the Giallorossi’s 23, a warning sign for Milan heading into their clash.
Sassuolo vs Juventus
Rewinding the clock, Massimiliano Allegri’s Juventus clearly need to learn from their last meeting with Sassuolo, a frustrating 1-0 loss on April 16. The result came in the midst of a run of poor form, sandwiched between the losses to Lazio and Napoli.
Gregoire Defrel scored the decisive goal for Sassuolo that evening, taking advantage of a poor corner clearance from Nicolo Fagioli to poke the ball past a diving Mattia Perin, who probably should’ve done better at his near post.
It was a strange match from Allegri’s Juventus, who struggled to look particularly dangerous until they conceded in the 64th minute. By then, it was too little too late, letting Sassuolo off the hook despite the Old Lady ending the match with an xG of 1.11 from their 13 shots.
One thing that does benefit the Bianconeri is the summer transfer market; two players who played key roles in Sassuolo’s victory in April were Davide Frattesi and Maxime Lopez, who’ve since left for Inter and Fiorentina respectively.
The Old Lady have looked strong in recent weeks, finding success with their attacking pairing of Federico Chiesa and Dusan Vlahovic, two players who’ll have to finish decisively if Allegri’s side want to take home all three points in Reggio-Emilia.
Empoli vs Inter
All eyes will be on the league leaders Inter as they switch focus back to Serie A following their tense Champions League draw with Real Sociedad. History bodes well for Simone Inzaghi’s side, who dispatched Empoli 3-0 in their last meeting on April 23.
The scoreline isn’t fully reflective of the match, which was much closer than the simple match it suggests for Inter. The game was also one of the rare few last term that saw a decisive contribution from now-Roma striker Romelu Lukaku, who scored twice and provided the assist for Lautaro Martinez’s goal.
Empoli put up a fight at the Stadio Carlo Castellani, producing an xG of 0.93 from 11 shots despite only having 39% of the ball. Tommaso Baldanzi had a great game for the Tuscan side, helping progress play up the pitch and act with bite in the penalty area.
Things will be different this weekend, however. Empoli recently sacked coach Paolo Zanetti following their disastrous start to the season – four defeats in four – and have brought back Aurelio Andreazzoli, who was in charge when the Nerazzurri secured 2-0 and 4-2 wins over the Tuscan outfit.
Whilst Inter could be at risk of a new manager bounce, there’s little to suggest that Empoli will be able to wobble the league leaders, especially considering their desire to assert themselves after that difficult draw with Real Sociedad.
Words: @ApolloHeyes