Milan host Napoli, in what could be their final chance to stake their claim for Champions League qualification for the first time since 2013-14.
The Partenopei, meanwhile, are looking to keep pace with Juventus at the top of Serie A, as they dream of their first Scudetto since 1990.
Words: Ramez Nathan
Milan host Napoli, in what could be their final chance to stake their claim for Champions League qualification for the first time since 2013-14.
The Partenopei, meanwhile, are looking to keep pace with Juventus at the top of Serie A, as they dream of their first Scudetto since 1990.
Words: Ramez Nathan
Historically the Partenopei have struggled against Milan, with the Rossoneri winning 54 of their 139 meetings, with 44 draws in that time.
The Diavolo have also outscored their visitors in this fixture, with 197 to 159.
The Neapolitans have only won at San Siro 13 times in 69 attempts, but three of those have come in the last four games. Indeed, the Rossoneri have grabbed only one win in their last 13 ties with I Ciucciarelli.
Last weekend, Napoli were on the verge of losing all faith in the Scudetto race after Stefano Sorrentino pulled his third penalty save from the last four he faced and ex-man Emanuele Giaccherini and Mariusz Stepinski exploited the Partenopei's defensive woes to score.
However, in the dying minutes of the game Arkadiusz Milik found his first goal since last August and Amadou Diawara scored his first-ever goal for Napoli on his 69th appearance. The Guinean's goal came in the last minute of play from a corner, to mark the 10th goal from a corner for Gli Azzurri, more than any Serie A side this season.
Milan, meanwhile failed to win for a third game in a row as they drew 1-1 with Sassuolo, and they’re quickly losing touch with the top four.
The only glimmer of hope after the game was that Nikola Kalinic found his scoring boots once again, firing his first goal since December.
Coach Gennaro Gattuso faces a defensive crisis without Leonardo Bonucci and Alessio Romagnoli, and will be forced to field Cristian Zapata – who has started only one Serie A game in 2018 – and Mateo Musacchio, who has kept only one clean sheet from 13 appearances in the Italian top flight.
Maurizio Sarri has faced Milan on seven previous occasions in Serie A and didn't suffer a loss in any of them, either with Napoli or Empoli.
More worryingly for the Coach though, the most lethal trident in Serie A have not been fully oiled lately, as the last triumph for the San Paolo outfit with goals from Lorenzo Insigne, Dries Mertens or Jose Callejon was back in February.