Milan vs Roma preview

March 23, 2012
By: Matthew Clarke

AC Milan players will have to forget all about their Champions League clash with Barcelona when they entertain AS Roma, a team that returned to contention for Champions League places.

The Rossoneri enter the final stage of the league campaign four points clear of Juventus, but they cannot afford to relax just yet.

Max Allegri’s side put on a brave fight in the Coppa Italia semi-final second leg against the Bianconeri and managed to overturn the one-goal deficit, but ended up losing the tie 4-3 on aggregate after conceding in extra time.

The Rossoneri cannot afford to cry over the spilt milk as they’ve got two very important games coming up, with league clash against Roma followed by Champions League tie against Barcelona.

Given the good performance they showed at Juventus Arena and the fact Max Allegri welcomes several important players back to the side, Milan look a good bet at odds of 1.67 (2/3) offered by Stan James.

Luca Antonini misses out through suspension, but Kevin-Prince Boateng and Mark van Bommel return to the side. With Robinho still doubtful through injury, Maxi Lopez could start alongside Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Probable starting line-up (4-3-1-2): Abbiati – Bonera, Mexes, Thiago Silva, Mesbah – Nocerino, Van Bommel, Muntari – Boateng – Ibrahimovic, Maxi Lopez.

Taking into account the heavy summer spending and big ambitions before the start of the season, Roma are clearly underperforming at the moment and only a strong finish to the league campaign can help them save this season.

The Giallorossi significantly improved their European chances with back to back victories over Palermo and Genoa, as they now sit just four points behind third-placed Lazio.

The aforementioned victories will not matter much if Luis Enrique’s side fail to continue the good run of results, although they cannot be expected to stop high-flying Milan.

Nonetheless, seeing that the Olimpico outfit scored in every one of their last four league games, odds of 1.53 (8/15) offered by Ladbrokes on Roma to score at San Siro.

Francesco Totti, Gabriel Heinze and Miralem Pjanic could all return, but Nicolas Burdisso, Juan and Marco Cassetti are definitely out.

Probable starting line-up (4-3-1-2): Stekelenburg – Taddei, Kjaer, Heinze, Jose Angel – De Rossi, Gago, Pjanic – Totti – Osvaldo, Borini.

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