MONZA v AC MILAN: MATCH PREVIEW

The Rossoneri's best period of the season to date brings up another test, away to a team that is always tricky to face. Monza v AC Milan will always be a different match to the others, and this current one, for matchday 25, sees two sides looking to keep things going. The Rossoneri want to extend their winning streak and get closer to second place, while the Biancorossi are looking for a prestigious scalp as they look to achieve mathematical safety as soon as possible. Kick-off is at 20:45 CET so let's get ready for the game with our Match Preview.

LATEST FROM MILANELLO
Having started the Europa League Playoffs in the best possible way with a 3-0 win over Rennes, the Rossoneri now turn their attentions to the league, looking for what would be their fourth away win in a row. Samuel Chukwueze should be back in Brianza - at least on the bench - with Tijjani Reijnders also back available in Serie A after serving his suspension against Napoli. Looking further ahead, attention will need to kept on three important players, who are just one booking away from a ban - Florenzi, Loftus-Cheek and Musah - while there could be some changes to the starting lineup compared to the last outing, with Thiaw, Okafor and Jović in the running for a starting berth. No press conference was held on the eve of the game, but after AC Milan v Rennes Coach Pioli previewed matchday 25 by saying: "We're trying to grow, to improve. I know how much quality and sense of responsibility my players have; we must move forward. We're in a good moment, and focus now turns to Monza: a completely different and equally complicated match."

LATEST FROM MONZA
On the back of three consecutive clean sheets - but scoring only one goal, Colpani's in the 1-0 win over Sassuolo - Monza are looking for their first victory of the season against a team in the top half of the table. In fact, the side from Brianza have only four draws and seven defeats against the top ten so far this season. In 2024, Palladino's team have been fairly inconsistent: in addition to the aforementioned success against Sassuolo, there was a win at Frosinone, but also two scathing defeats by Inter and Empoli. Monza boasts a good home defensive record (eleven goals conceded in twelve games) but have not scored more than one goal at the U-Power Stadium since 8 October against Salernitana. Lining up in a 3-4-2-1, the same starting eleven should be seen as in their last game, a 0-0 draw against Hellas Verona. Possible changes could be seen with former Inter players, D'Ambrosio and Gagliardini (one booking away from a ban like Izzo), coming in, as well as Djurić, who is fighting with Lorenzo Colombo for a starting berth.

"We'll need to give an all-round perfect performance," said Raffaele Palladino in his pre-match press conference on the eve of the game. "We're facing a confident team, who are coming into the game on the back of string of positive results and are still in the Scudetto race. We'll need to take care of every detail: I've asked the players to play with confidence, freedom and courage."

PRE-MATCH NUMBERS

• There have been three previous meetings in Serie A between the two sides, with AC Milan winning all three. A 100% success rate - the last one being a 3-0 win on 17 December - held by the Rossoneri only in their first four games in Serie A against Ancona, Cremonese, Messina and Pro Vercelli.
• The match at the U-Power Stadium takes place exactly one year after the first league meeting in the city in Brianza: it ended 1-0 thanks to a goal from Junior Messias on 18 February 2023. With a win today, the Rossoneri would reach the 55-point mark after 25 games, having only achieved this in the 2003/04 (64 points on that occasion) and 2021/22 season.
• AC Milan have scored three goals in each of their last three away league outings (Empoli, Udinese, Frosinone). The Rossoneri have never scored more than two goals in four away games on the trot in a single Serie A season, managing it only 1964 (across two different competitions, though).
• Against Napoli, Theo Hernández bagged his 26th goal in Serie A for AC Milan and is just one finish away from equaling Aldo Maldera (27), the Rossoneri's second-highest goalscoring defender in the competition. The Rossoneri number 19 is the only defender with at least 25 goals and 15 assists in the last five seasons in Europe's top-five leagues.

WHERE TO WATCH MONZA v AC MILAN
In Italy, the match will be broadcast by DAZN. To watch Monza v AC Milan 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 19:45 CET and continuing up until shortly before kick-off. After full-time, there will be interviews and Coach Pioli's press conference. From 20:40 CET, 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
In charge of the game at the U-Power Stadium will be 33-year-old Andrea Colombo, an international referee since January 2024. It will be his 26th Serie A game and his first ever with the Rossoneri, while he has one prior meeting with Palladino's side (Inter v Monza on 19 August 2023). Alongside him will be assistants Valeriani and Del Giovane, with Fourneau as fourth official and Marini on VAR (Guida as AVAR).

Matchday 25 in Serie A opened up on Friday 16 February, with Torino 2-0 Lecce and Inter 4-0 Salernitana. Following three games on Saturday 17 - Napoli 1-1 Genoa, Hellas Verona 2-2 Juventus and Atalanta 3-0 Sassuolo - kicking off Sunday's schedule was Lazio v Bologna at 12:30 CET. Before Monza v AC Milan, the fixture to finish off the day, also Udinese v Cagliari and Empoli v Fiorentina at 15:00 CET and Frosinone v Roma at 18:00 CET, will take place.

The current standings: Inter 63; Juventus° 54; AC Milan 52; Atalanta 45; Bologna 42; Roma 38; Lazio* and Fiorentina 37; Torino and Napoli 36; Monza and Genoa° 30; Lecce° 24; Frosinone 23; Udinese 22; Empoli 21; Sassuolo and Hellas Verona° 20; Cagliari 18; Salernitana° 13. (* = played one game less; ° = played one game more)

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