Struggling AC Milan fell further behind European positions as they were held to a goalless draw by Chievo and they now hope to defeat the other side from Verona despite the serious selection problems. Hellas Verona ended the barren run as they beat Cagliari on the road, and they arrive at San Siro in very good spirits having created an eight-point cushion between them and the relegation zone.

Nine players unavailable

While new coach Filippo Inzaghi has got to take part of the blame for this season’s under-par results, it is fair to say that his job was made a lot harder by numerous injuries to the playing squad. This is probably the main reason while the Rossoneri were unable to find any sort of consistency, with the talented coach forced to alter his starting line-up week in week out. The club management seem to have addressed the main issues in the January window, adding the likes of Destro, Cerci, Paletta, Antonelli, Suso and Bochetti to their ranks, but they will obviously need some time to gel. Milan have indeed shown some improvement of late, defeating Parma and Cesena at home while losing to Juventus and sharing spoils with Empoli and Chievo. And while Inzaghi was probably delighted to see his side keep second straight clean sheet at Bentegodi, injuries to Riccardo Montolivo and Nigel de Jong seriously marred said achievement. As a result, Milan sit five points behind Europa League positions, meaning they have got to try and see off Hellas Verona on Saturday, although the hosts need to be wary of the Giallorossi, who can be dangerous on the break.

January recruit Gabriel Paletta is expected to start having recovered from injury, but Zapata, De Sciglio, El Shaarawy, Abate, Mastour, De Jong, Montolivo, Zaccardo and Rami continue to miss out.

Invaluable win at Cagliari

Hellas Verona have this season largely struggled to repeat the performances that saw them mount a serious challenge for Europa League positions last term, but that is hardly surprising given the quality of players that left in the summer. The Giallorossi even slipped in the Serie A danger zone as they lost the first three matches in February, but a good performance in a 1-1 draw with title chasers AS Roma hinted Andrea Mandorlini’s side would soon return to the right track. Hellas Verona then recorded a very important victory over relegation rivals Cagliari that saw them create an eight-point advantage over the bottom three, and they can now face AC Milan at San Siro without any pressure. This will allow the coach to adopt another positive approach and attempt to catch the Rossoneri on the break, with the likes of Luca Toni, Juanito Gomez and Bosko Jankovic expected to make life difficult for home defenders. Verona may have won just two of last ten away matches in the league, but they managed to score in eight of those ten games, bagging a total of 13 goals in the process.

Javier Saviola and Fernandinho have resumed full training, but Mattia Valoti is doubtful with a back problem and he could be the only player to miss out.

Verdict

Even with so many important players on the sidelines, AC Milan are expected to attack from the off in search of a win that would keep their European hopes alive. Having seriously boosted their survival chances, Hellas Verona can be trusted to adopt attack-minded approach and we should, therefore, see a high-scoring match at San Siro.

Top pick: Both teams to score   1.91 (10/11) @ William Hill

Alternative pick 1: Over 2.5 goals   1.87 (20/23) @ BetVictor

Alternative pick 2: Home win   1.67 (2/3) @ Betfred