AC Milan vs Empoli

Stadio San Siro is the venue as defending Serie A champions AC Milan and perennial bottom-half strugglers Empoli go head-to-head in a lopsided league contest.

After going winless in four consecutive games in all competitions (D2, L2), Milan returned to winning ways with a thumping 4-0 triumph at runaway leaders Napoli last weekend, getting their stuttering top-four pursuit back on track. But there’s no room for complacency, as they commence this round only one point clear of fifth-placed Roma. Adding to this sentiment, Stefano Pioli’s men have blown hot and cold across their last five home league outings (W2, D2, L1). They’ve at least been consistent in terms of scoring, having bagged 2+ goals in seven of their previous nine Serie A matches at San Siro. That bodes well as ‘I Rossoneri’ aim to complete a second successive top-flight double over Empoli following a dramatic 3-1 win in the reverse fixture.

In the meantime, Empoli pulled off a tight 1-0 home win over Lecce earlier this week, halting a woeful run of eight Serie A games without winning (D3, L5). That was also their first clean sheet in Italy’s elite division since a shock 1-0 victory at Inter Milan in January, which remains their last top-flight success on hostile turf (D1, L3 since). Playing on Friday (European time) could be a problem for ‘Gli Azzurri,’ given that they’ve managed just one win in their eight Serie A matches played on this day (D1, L6), including a 2-1 defeat at Atalanta in March. Interestingly, the visitors have picked up just three wins in 29 Serie A meetings with Milan, with each triumph coming at San Siro. But their last two visits to ‘I Rossoneri’ have yielded defeats ‘to nil.’