(Football news) AC Milan lead the Serie A standings at the halfway stage and will visit Udinese on Saturday seeking to maintain their slim advantage at the top of the table. AC Milan will hope that they can move past their disappointing loss against Liverpool in the Champions League, but one can take positives out of this as they can solely focus on winning this year's Scudetto. Pioli and co have won away from home 16 times during 2021, with only Napoli's remarkable feats in 2017 having topped that tally since the turn of the century. Milan this season have shared the goal scoring burden around as their ageing strikers, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Olivier Giroud have been absent for most of the campaign , with 14 different names making the scoresheet in Serie A this term. Only European champions Chelsea (16) have had more so far in the top five European Leagues, demonstrating the wonderful season they are having in the league.
For Milan, Ante Rebic and Pietro Pellegri are still doubtful due to muscular issues, while full-back Davide Calabria is yet to make his return, defensive mainstay Simon Kjaer will miss several months with a recently sustained ACL injury. Oliver Giroud might be in contention to be in the match day squad.
Inter seek to continue their massive upturn in form as they are suddenly challenging for the Serie A crown, they face spirited Cagliari at home. Having qualified from the Champions League group stages for the first time in a decade, despite losing to Real Madrid, Inter are back within a point of the Serie A leaders after winning four matches in a row. Inter have won more home matches in Serie A in 2021 than any other side in Europe's top five leagues, and they would equal a club record in that regard with a win against Cagliari. Inzaghi has been able to maintain the Nerazzurri's attacking momentum since taking charge in the summer, and as a result they have now scored 94 Serie A goals in 2021, only in 1950 have they netted more in a calendar year. They could even surpass the century mark with some favourable fixtures coming up. For Inter Joaquin Correa, Andrea Ranocchia, Matteo Darmian and Stefan De Vrij will be out for the clash with injuries
Napoli face Empoli as Luciano Spalletti’s side will look to bounce back after their loss against Atalanta last week. Luciano Spalletti's side have conceded nine goals in their last five league games, which is as many as they had in their previous 18 Serie A matches. The defeat against Atalanta was their first on home soil this season in the Italian top flight and Napoli have won six of their eight fixtures at the Maradona Stadium so far. Empoli on the other hand have earned 23 points, which is their second-best haul at this stage of the season, while scoring an impressive 23 goals which is also a club record after 16 Serie A matches. For Napoli, Stanislav Lobotka, Andre-Frank Anguissa, Victor Osimhen and Kalidou Koulibaly will all be out for this important clash as Hriving Lozano, Fabian Ruiz and Lorenzo Insigne all remain doubtful after picking up knocks against Leicester City midweek.
Juventus take on Venezia in a bid to catch the runaway four teams at the top of the table. Two home wins in the space of three days has helped Juventus recover from their most recent crisis of 2021 as Allegri's team has improved of late, and they have kept a clean sheet in four of their last five league matches conceding just once in the defeat to Atalanta. Considering it took them 29 games to keep a clean sheet as that gives Juve hopes of heading into the second half of the season with some confidence. Before the winter break Juventus will hope to make three wins out of three as they can put some distance between them and their other rivals. For Juventus, most of their players will be back training as Allegri will get back his main players playing.
The other matches are:
- Fiorentina vs Salernitana
- Torino vs Bologna
- Verona vs Atalanta
- Sassuolo vs Lazio
- Roma vs Spezia
