ATALANTA v AC MILAN: MATCH PREVIEW

The first away match of the season for Stefano Pioli's AC Milan will be a tough one away to Gian Piero Gasperini's Atalanta. The two sides facing off emerged victorious from their respective league openers and will be aiming to win in order to continue their perfect starts to the new Serie A season. Atalanta and AC Milan will kick off at 20:45 CEST, and here's our Match Preview to present the clash. 

LATEST FROM MILANELLO
After a great win over Udinese on the opening day of the campaign, there's plenty of optimism in the Rossoneri camp. The team's midfield will be boosted by the return of Sandro Tonali, who scored one of AC Milan's three goals in their victory over La Dea the last time they played in Bergamo. However, Rade Krunić won't be available after picking up a muscle problem, with the Bosnian joining Ibrahimović on the now two-man injury list. Meanwhile, De Ketelaere and Origi are ready to add to the Rossoneri's attacking options, meaning Coach Pioli has a welcome selection headache.

"We've prepared well for Atalanta, who are a strong side that we know well. They play positive and attacking football," said Stefano Pioli during his pre-match press conference. "They've changed a few players but the spine of the team is the same. They're organised, technically sound and play with intensity. It's more or less a six-pointer and a very important game so soon in the season, so we need to have the right approach. The lads need to work hard to cause me selection headaches and the team selection for tomorrow won't be easy. I'm lucky to have so many attacking options that I can also bring on to change a game."

LATEST FROM ATALANTA
After five consecutive seasons of European football, Atalanta finished last season in eighth place and therefore won't be involved in any European competitions this campaign. The Orobici, who are being led by Gasperini for the seventh successive year, started the 2022/23 Serie A campaign with a 2-0 away victory over Sampdoria. There are many new faces in La Dea's ranks, the latest of which belongs to Brandon Soppy, who faced the Rossoneri in the Udinese shirt last Saturday. Other notable arrivals include the Englishman Lookman, who scored on the team's trip to Genoa, and Éderson, who joined after an excellent season at Salernitana. The latter has been training separately and is unlikely to feature, although Demiral and Zappacosta are once again available.

"An important and high-profile match awaits, said Gian Piero Gasperini on the eve of the game. "We'll do everything to produce our best performance. To assess the league, we'll have to wait until around ten games have passed. We hope that we'll do better at home than we did last year, even if AC Milan aren't exactly the easiest team to face. They deservedly won the league last year and, right now, are a team to look up to given what they're doing both on and on the pitch. They play an attacking game and score lots of goals."

LATEST FROM SERIE A

Fabio Maresca will officiate Atalanta vs. AC Milan. The 41-year-old will referee his 102nd career fixture, the 12th involving AC Milan. The previous occasion was in Rome last season, a 2-1 win over the Giallorossi on 31 October 2021. Accompanying Maresca will be fourth official Sozza, while Baccini and Prenna will be the two linesmen appointed for the match. Valeri will be on VAR, assisted by Costanzo. 

Matchday 2 of Serie A began yesterday with Torino 0-0 Lazio, Udinese 0-0 Salernitana, Inter 3-0 Spezia and Sassuolo 1-0 Lecce. At 18:30 CEST, Empoli v Fiorentina and Napoli v Monza will open today's schedule, which will also see – in addition to Atalanta v AC Milan – Bologna v Hellas Verona at 20:45 CEST. Two fixtures are taking place tomorrow: Roma v Cremonese (18:30 CEST) and Sampdoria v Juventus (20:45 CEST).

This is the league table: Inter* 6; Lazio*, Torino* 4; Napoli, Juventus, AC Milan, Atalanta, Fiorentina, Torino, Roma, Spezia, Sassuolo* 3; Salernitana*, Udinese* 1; Cremonese, Bologna, Monza, Empoli, Sampdoria, Hellas Verona, Lecce 0. (* one match ahead)

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