AC MILAN v LAZIO: MATCH PREVIEW

From early May to late September. AC Milan v Lazio once more, not long ago, but a lot has changed. First of all, it's a new season: whilst in the last one, we were at the closing stages of the season and the 2-0 win brought the Rossoneri closer to fourth place, today we are still at the dawn of the season and the Diavolo can remain at the top of the league. San Siro, 18:00 CEST: our analysis of the important and challenging match. 

LATEST FROM MILANELLO
Little time to recover after Cagliari (Wednesday) and prepare for the next match (Saturday). AC Milan are enjoying a good period, the two consecutive victories in Serie A have allowed them to gain on competitors including Inter, Juventus, Napoli, Lazio and Roma. Pioli, after making changes at the Unipol Domus, seems oriented towards returning to his standard formation: the most important news is Maignan back in goal, recovered and now ready to take back his place, and Giroud in attack, having been rested in Sardinia; potential rotation between Calabria and Florenzi. Adli taking the Regista role. No one cautioned.

"Lazio are very strong," said Pioli in his press conference ahead of the match, "they will be aggressive and take us on: we will need to be careful. We're doing well and want to build on our performances to compete in the League and the Champions League. I'm convinced of the quality of my players, we must move forward with conviction and generosity. The league table doesn't matter right now".

LATEST FROM LAZIO
Lazio got off to a surprisingly slow start. So far, they have only managed 7 points in Serie A, with three defeats and a negative goal difference (-1). The Biancocelesti, however, are fresh off a victory and also drew with Atlético Madrid in their Champions League opener; in general, they are a solid, offensive team; second in the league last year. Sarri is expected to name the same team that overcame Torino in the midweek match, including former Rossonero, Romagnoli, who will wear a protective mask due to a compound nasal bone fracture: Patric is ready to step in for the Roman defender, however. Other contentious positions include left-back, where either Hysaj or Lazzari could play and in midfield, between Rovella and Kamada, with the former favoured. 

"We're facing the leading team," said Lazzari, "very strong and always difficult to take on. We will try to give our best performance, hoping for a positive result. The victory against Torino was very important, it helped boost out confidence."

PRE-MATCH NUMBERS

• AC Milan have won six of the last seven matches against Lazio at San Siro in Serie A (1L); the Rossoneri have beaten the Biancocelesti 47 times at home. They only have more home victories against Fiorentina (50) and Roma (48) in Serie A. 
• AC Milan could win six of the first seven matches in a Serie A season for the third time in the three-point-per-win era (1994/95 onwards). They went on to win the league on both occasions that this happened (2003/04 and 2021/22). 
• The Rossoneri, together with Fiorentina are one of two teams, to have scored the most goals in the first half this season with nine goals, exactly three times than what the Biancocelesti have managed (three). 
• His next goal will be Rafael Leão's 50th goal in Europe's top five leagues, 41 of which have come for the Rossoneri in Serie A.

WHERE TO WATCH AC MILAN v LAZIO
In Italy, the match will be broadcast by DAZN. To watch AC Milan v Lazio in a different country, you can consult the "AC Milan on TV" webpage, clicking on the heading "Abroad". On the Rossoneri channels, Milan TV will provide live matchday coverage starting from 17:00 CEST and continuing up until shortly before kick-off. After full-time, there will be interviews and Coach Pioli's press conference. From 16:55 CEST, there will also be our Live Reaction show on our Twitch channel. Also, not to be missed is the coverage on acmilan.com, the AC Milan Official App and our official social media profiles.

LATEST FROM SERIE A
Davide Massa, from Imperia, will be refereeing in his 190th match in the top flight. He has presided over 19 Rossoneri matches, the most recent being the 1-1 draw at Bologna in April 2023. He has refereed 24 matches for the Biancocelesti, the most recent, Lazio 1-0 Roma in March 2023. 

Matchday 7 opens on Saturday at 15:00 CEST with Lecce v Napoli, AC Milan v Lazio at 18:00 CEST and Salernitana v Inter at 20:45 CEST. Sunday's schedule sees Bologna v Empoli at 12:30 CEST, Udinese v Genoa at 15:00 CEST, Atalanta v Juventus at 18:00 CEST and Roma v Frosinone at 20:45 CEST. Monday at 18:30 CEST sees Sassuolo v Monza and Torino v Hellas Verona, before Fiorentina v Cagliari at 20:45 to conclude the matchday. 

Here are the current standings: Inter and AC Milan 15; Juventus 13; Atalanta 12; Napoli, Lecce and Fiorentina 11; Frosinone and Sassuolo 9; Torino 8; Genoa, Lazio, Bologna and Hellas Verona 7; Monza 6; Roma 5; Salernitana, Udinese and Empoli 3; Cagliari 2. 

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