Two Serie A giants will convene on Saturday evening, as AC Milan welcome Juventus to San Siro.
Milan slipped six points behind Juve after a six-goal thriller with Cagliari just before the break, while the Bianconeri's latest Turin derby win kept them in a six-way scrap for top spot.
Match preview
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Summing up their defensive frailties this season, Milan conceded right at the start and then at the very end of their final fixture before international football intervened - an absorbing 3-3 draw down in Cagliari.
Revived by his showing in the Rossoneri's shock Champions League win over Real Madrid a few days earlier, Rafael Leao scored twice, before Tammy Abraham's second-half strike seemed set to wrap up victory; however, Gabriele Zappa completed a brilliant brace in the 90th minute and the spoils were ultimately shared.
As a result, Milan's tally of 18 points is only good enough for seventh spot in the standings, leaving them eight adrift of Napoli at the Serie A summit - albeit with one game in hand.
Even if the second-city club topple Juventus this weekend, their points total after 12 matches would be lower than in each of the last four years, and head coach Paulo Fonseca has inevitably faced criticism.
With Slovan Bratislava, Red Star Belgrade, Girona and Dinamo Zagreb next up on the schedule in Europe, a Champions League playoff place seems well within their grasp, but losing on Saturday evening would see them fall further behind Italy's top six.
Milan may have conceded just two goals in their last seven league games against Juve, but keeping the back door shut on this occasion may be asking a lot of Serie A's eighth-best defence.
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Just before the break, Juventus continued their long dominance of city rivals Torino, extending a record run in the Derby della Mole to 19 games without defeat.
Goals from Timothy Weah and Kenan Yildiz decided the Turin derby in the Bianconeri's favour, keeping them within two points of top spot after a dozen matches.
For all their flaws and injury issues, Juve have made an unbeaten start to the Serie A season, both drawing and winning six games, and they are in the thick of a potentially fascinating title race - six teams are currently separated by two points.
Thiago Motta's men - who sit just above Milan in the Champions League table - have kept four clean sheets in the first five away fixtures of their top-flight campaign, though they conceded four goals in a wild Derby d'Italia against Inter.
Returning to San Siro this week, Juventus will aim to avoid such an uncharacteristic loss of control, as victory would not only boost their own Scudetto hopes but also strike a huge blow to Milan's.
Team News
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Milan have several options to choose from up front, as ex-Juventus striker Alvaro Morata recently returned to action by representing Spain in the UEFA Nations League, while his 16-year-old deputy Francesco Camarda - who started against Cagliari - scored twice for Italy Under-19s.
Tammy Abraham is also available, but Luka Jovic has been struggling with a groin issue and joins Alessandro Florenzi and Ismael Bennacer on the treatment table at Milanello.
After being dropped earlier this month, Rafael Leao has since been back to somewhere near his best, and the Portuguese powerhouse has completed the most dribbles in Serie A throughout 2024 - he also needs just one more goal to reach double figures for a third consecutive calendar year.
Meanwhile, Juve will be missing their focal point up front, as top scorer Dusan Vlahovic has been hit by a thigh injury; back-up striker Arkadiusz Milik will not return until next year.
Therefore, either Timothy Weah - son of Milan legend George Weah - or Kenan Yildiz could fill in as a false nine, with support from Francisco Conceicao and Teun Koopmeiners. Should Yildiz score on Saturday, he would reach six Serie A goals for Juventus at the tender age of 19 years and 203 days, surpassing Alessandro Del Piero and becoming the seventh-youngest player to do so.
Having been brought back into the Italy squad following improved performances this season, Manuel Locatelli - one of 10 men to have scored for both teams in this fixture - should start in midfield, where Douglas Luiz will be absent again.
The latter joins Vlahovic, Milik, Juan Cabal, Nico Gonzalez and his fellow Brazilian Bremer on the sidelines.
AC Milan possible starting lineup:
Maignan; Emerson, Thiaw, Gabbia, Hernandez; Fofana, Reijnders; Chukwueze, Pulisic, Leao; Morata
Juventus possible starting lineup:
Di Gregorio; Savona, Kalulu, Gatti, Cambiaso; Locatelli, Thuram; Conceicao, Koopmeiners, Yildiz; Weah
We say: AC Milan 1-1 Juventus
Milan may come up short in their quest to halt Juve's unbeaten run, as their vulnerable back four cannot be relied upon to stay watertight for 90 minutes.
Although the Bianconeri are short of some key players, they have proven to be resilient since Thiago Motta took charge, while Paulo Fonseca's potential-packed side are prone to costly errors.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Jonathan O'Shea
