For the second time this season, Milan managed to salvage a point on the road by scoring two late goals, but they will have to start the match much better this time if they want to return to winning ways. Sampdoria are still winless this season, but the visitors will certainly see their chance to hurt Milan’s shaky defence.

Leaking goals for fun

After Max Allegri and his side overcame all sorts of problems to pip Fiorentina to a top 3 finish in Serie A, while also impressing in Europe last season, the Rossoneri were tipped to continue the uptrend in fortunes this term. However, once again, their pre-season preparations were marred by numerous injuries to the playing squad, with the infirmary still pretty packed. And while that hasn’t hurt team’s scoring record in the opening exchanges, constant changes in the back four have seen Milan concede no less than 10 goals in first 5 league fixtures, so no wonder they have been unable to keep up with their top 3 rivals. As a result, the Rossoneri sit in 12th place, already eight points behind leaders Roma, and they seem unable to find the cure for their travel sickness. The team have got to be commended for scoring two late goals to salvage one point against Bologna, but another slow start could cost them dearly against Sampdoria. Considering the circumstances, the hosts have no choice but to attack their opponents from the off, while chances are this will be the sixth consecutive league game without a clean sheet for the Rossoneri.

Mario Balotelli is banned, whereas Bonera, Pazzini, Gabriel, El Shaarawy, De Sciglio, Montolivo, Kaka and Silvestre are all out injured.

Unbeaten on the road

Sampdoria have been in all sorts of problems ever since they virtually secured survival at the beginning of March, and they have carried the poor form into new season. Delio Rossi’s side have been utterly disappointing at home this term, losing all three matches without scoring a single goal, but, oddly enough, they have done pretty well on the road. Not only did Sampdoria avoided defeat at both Cagliari and Bologna, but they scored no less than four goals in the process, which should give them reason for optimism ahead of the trip to San Siro. Doriani thus proved they have more than enough attacking potential to hurt the opposition, with summer signing Manolo Gabbiadini especially impressive. This is certainly a good time to be facing struggling Milan and while Delio Rossi’s side may not be able to prevent their more illustrious opponents from scoring, they will be looking to deploy the same counterattacking tactics that saw them impress against Cagliari and Bologna. All things considered, we should see a highly entertaining encounter at San Siro.

While forward Eder continues to miss out through injury, boss Delio Rossi has no other injury worries at the moment.

Verdict

Milan certainly have enough in them to see off out-of-sorts Sampdoria, but after conceding in all five fixtures this term, the poor defensive run looks set to continue. Having scored two goals each against Bologna and Cagliari, Sampdoria can be trusted to register at least one goal at San Siro.

Top pick: Both teams to score   2.10 (11/10) @ BetVictor

Alternative pick 1: Over 2.5 goals   1.90 (9/10) @ bet365

Alternative pick 2: Home win + both teams to score   3.75 (11/4) @ William Hill

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