10 FACTS ON VENEZIA v AC MILAN

With that great victory over Roma behind us, it's time to focus on our first away game of the new year. For the first time this season, AC Milan will kick off at 12:30, and they shall do so in the striking setting of the Penzo to face a Venezia side in search of points to strengthen their chances of survival. Ahead of kick-off tomorrow, let's take a look at the main stats and facts about matchday 21 of Serie A:

HEAD TO HEAD
1- This will be the 26th meeting between Venezia and AC Milan in Serie A: 15 wins for the Rossoneri, 4 for the Venetians, 6 draws. There have been 12 previous meetings between the two sides at the home of the Lagunari with AC Milan leading 7 wins to 3 (as well as 2 draws). This will be the first fixture at the Penzo since February 2002 (which ended in a 4-1 win for the Rossoneri) 

2- AC Milan have lost just one of their last 22 Serie A matches against newly-promoted teams: in the other 21 matches, the Rossoneri have recorded 16 wins, five draws with 13 clean sheets. It is also worth noting that AC Milan have won their first away game of the calendar year in Serie A in the last four seasons, including last year, against a newly promoted side, a 2-0 win at Benevento.

SUNDAY AWAITS
3- AC Milan will kick off a Serie A match at 12.30 for the first time since April 2021: a 2-1 win against Genoa, Rebić's goal and Scamacca's own goal.

CURRENT FORM
4- In their last 18 away games in Veneto, Milan have collected 12 wins, 3 draws and 3 defeats, the last one coming back in 2017.

GENERAL STATS
5- AC Milan are the league's most prolific side in front of goal both in the first half (16 goals) as well as the last half an hour of play: after 60’, the Rossoneri have scored 18 goals, just as many as Venezia have netted in the league overall.

PLAYER FOCUS
6- Venezia could become the 80th different team that Zlatan Ibrahimović has scored against in the five major European leagues since the beginning of 2000. The Swede would become the second player to reach this milestone after Cristiano Ronaldo.

7- Olivier Giroud has scored five goals in Serie A this season, already one more than he scored in the 2020/21 Premier League with Chelsea. The French striker is still looking for his first away goal in a Rossoneri shirt: all five of his goals have come at San Siro.

8- In the home game earlier this season, Brahim Díaz scored his first, and so far, his only Serie A goal (out of a total of seven in his career) at San Siro. Also in the match on 22 September, Theo Hernández registered a goal and an assist in the same Serie A fixture for the first and only time in his career.

9- Rafael Leão returned to scoring form against Roma after six Serie A games: against Venezia, the Portuguese forward could be on target for two consecutive matches for the second time this season (Cagliari and Lazio).

COACH FOCUS
10- This will be Stefano Pioli's 400th Serie A game in charge, making him the eighth coach to reach this milestone in the three-point-a-win era.

Match KITs, clothing, accessories, gift ideas and much more: visit AC Milan online Store!