Serie A betting preview: Sassuolo-Milan
Jan 12, 2014
The lacklustre displays from Sassuolo are starting to mount now, they have not scored in 500 minutes of football and never showed up at Genoa on Monday, there is a chance that a big televised game against the giants of Milan will inspire them, but I am not so sure and aside from that 10-15 minute second half spell when they looked vunerable, it was more like the old Milan in the win over Atalanta, ahead of which I wrote ....
They were fortunate to draw that 2-2, but their attitude was good and they were themselves unlucky to lose the Milan derby just before the Christmas break to a late goal from Rodrigo Palacio. I have changed my thinking slightly and feel, looking at the fixture list, they have a good opportunity to win 4-5 games in the next month and whilst that will not get them even close to the top 3, it would appease supporters and set them up for the double header with Atletico Madrid in the Champions League. I definitely feel they will be up for the game today on what is a national holiday and with greater focus on the games. They are looking for a ninth straight win in this Epiphany round of games and in Atalanta ( 1-1-7) are meeting a poor travelling side, who arrive with the second oldest squad in Serie A and one starting to look a little long in the tooth.
Milan will amost certainly have Adil Rama, who has signed from Valencia, making his debut in central defence, Sulley Muntari, Ignazio Abate and Stephan El Shaarawy are sidelined, but Riccardo Montolivo and Robinho return and Giampaolo Pazzini and Alessandro Matri should be much closer to full fitness now after coming back into the squad recently and options suddenly look greatly increased. If Milan do not want this domestic season to simply fizzle out, a win today is absolutely essential and an emphatic one might be a decent momentum builder.
In addition to the win, the loss for Inter has reduced the gap between the two rivals to 9 points and I suspect that Milan would see that as a target for the remainder of their domestic season, with Sassulo, Verona, Cagliari and Torino their next four opponents, they certainly have a good opportunity to bridge that gap over the next month. The signing of Keisuke Honda, who was in the crowd on Monday has upped interest and he is in the squad today and will surely make an appearance at some stage. That might inspire Mario Balotelli to a performance too and they really ought to win this with a degree of comfort. Hosts are without veteran central defender Paolo Bianco,who is suspended, they have conceded a goal every 50 minutes when he starts, one every 27 when unavailable.1.5 units Milan -1 ball 2.17+ asian line/Ibramarket.
Only eight wins this season for Milan (all comps) but six have been by two or more goals.
Sassuolo are 1-8 (goals scored/conceded) through the middle third of games (31st-60th minute) at home. They have won just one of five at home and one of eight overall when level at the half time break.
Milan are similarly vunerable through the same period on the road, but despite posting just one away win, they have ended games strongly away from the San Siro and are 7-2 in the final 15 minutes.
Sassuolo: Pegolo, Pomini, Rosati, Antei, Ariaudo, Gazzola, Longhi, Marzorati, Pucino, Ziegler, Chibsah, Kurtic, Magnanelli, Marrone, Missiroli, Schelotto, Valeri, Berardi, Farias, Floro Flores, Gliozzi , Gomes, Zaza.
Milan : Abbiati, Coppola, Gabriel; Bonera, De Sciglio, Mexes, Rami, Silvestre, Zaccardo, Zapata; Cristante, Emanuelson, De Jong, Honda, Kakà, Montolivo, Nocerino, Poli, Saponara; Balotelli, Matri, Pazzini, Robinho.
Good Luck.
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