A fantastic game in Serie A will be a perfect way to round off a great weekend of football, and that’s exactly what to expect at the San Siro, where two teams in Italy’s fascinating title race will face off. Both teams have seen strong starts to the season begin to show signs of tailing off in recent weeks, but they remain right in the hunt for what would be a first title since 2011 for Milan and a first since 1989 and the days of Diego Maradona for Napoli. Inter have taken charge of the race with a comfortable victory over Salernitana on Friday night, but a win for Milan would keep them just a point behind, whereas Napoli could leapfrog their hosts to stay four points back from the league leaders.
Expect a hard-fought game between two sides with fantastic goalscoring records and sturdy defences that rank among the league’s finest. Nobody has conceded fewer goals than Napoli this season, but of the 13 goals that have been scored against the division’s meanest defence, 9 have come in just their last five games, where they have been struggling in the absence of their talismanic centre-back Kalidou Koulibaly. They will be looking to regain the steadiness that saw them go unbeaten in Serie A until late November, whilst Milan will be looking to take advantage and not only extend the gap between the sides but also restart their own stuttering title charge. Milan are not without their own problems however, with key man Rafael Leão having gotten injured at the start of December, and centre-back Simon Kjær undergoing surgery on a serious knee injury. Only Theo Hernandez and Fikayo Tomori have played more minutes in the league than Leão, and though he is not the most prolific goalscorer, it is clear that they are missing him regardless.
AC Milan v Napoli Bet Builder Tips & Predictions
Lorenzo Insigne to have 1+ Shots on Target
Both sides have been amongst the better sides in terms of preventing goalscoring chances, but per 90, Milan tend to concede slightly more shots than Napoli (11.3 v 10.4). Lorenzo Insigne, as you will know if you have watched many Napoli or Italy games, especially in recent seasons, needs very little invitation to let fly after cutting inside onto his wand of a left foot. The stats bear this out, taking a huge 3.74 shots per 90. Mertens generally gets around 1 in 3 of these shots on target (1.22 per 90), so he is unlikely to be discouraged if he misses after his first or even second attempt. With Victor Osimhen out for Napoli and Dries Mertens playing much less than in previous years, much of their goalscoring threat is now resting on the shoulders of the Italian, and he is not shying away from trying to make up for these losses.
He has been injured in recent weeks, missing a couple of games at the end of last month and the start of this one, but he was fit enough to play 69 minutes last week against Empoli, in which he racked up an incredible 7 shots on goal. Expect to see him start and get plenty of attempts away. Only once in 15 league games this season has Insigne not managed 2 or more shots in a game, the 2-3 defeat away to current champions and league leaders Inter, and this selection in particular would have landed in 11 of his 15 games this season.
Napoli to have 4+ Shots on Target
Napoli average 4.88 Shots on Target per 90 this season in Serie A, alongside having five different players averaging more than a shot on target every other game. They will know this fixture represents a huge chance to arrest their slide and send a signal to the rest of the league that they are no flash in the pan and intend to be in this title race until the bitter end, and I expect them to demonstrate that by really pushing for the win away from home. As I said above, both teams are not as defensively solid as they were earlier in the season, but Napoli were much better than Milan before this, and so I would expect that if both teams turn up and play to the best of their ability, Napoli would be right on top in this one.
Napoli also have a number of players who are averaging at least one shot per game this season in the league, with three taking at least two shots per 90, while playing at least half the minutes available in the league so far this season, and Piotr Zielinski just behind on 1.82 per 90. This looks a solid addition to any Bet Builder, it is nicely priced and if there are goals as we would expect in this fixture, then this should hopefully sail in.
Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa to be Carded
Anguissa will be a name familiar to fans of the Premier League thanks to his time at Fulham, but some may be surprised to see him as a key part of a Napoli team chasing a Scudetto. He has however had a fantastic start to life in Naples where he is spending the 2021/22 season on loan following Fulham’s relegation in 20/21, something he is doing for the second time following a season on loan at Villareal two years ago. He has started and completed 90 minutes every game since the loan, until a small muscular injury kept him out until the Empoli game last weekend.
He has picked up an impressive four yellow cards despite missing five of Napoli’s 17 games this year, and gets regularly involved in midfield battles, ranking highly in the Napoli squad both for fouls drawn and fouls conceded, as seen on the Cheat Sheet. He commits 2.07 fouls per 90, and draws 1.71, with all those ranking above him for fouls playing significantly fewer minutes than Anguissa. He will be required to do plenty of running in the defensive midfield role to allow Zielinski to get forward and support the attack with goals from central midfield as he has been doing all season so far. Milan’s midfield three are all pacy, and should he be caught out, tactical fouling could come into play and see Anguissa earn his fifth card of the season.
Both Teams to Score
Both teams started the season with solid defensive records, but recent weeks have shown this to be tailing off somewhat – Napoli have kept just one clean sheet in their last six games, and Milan just two in their last six. Both teams to Score has landed in 4 of the previous six for both sides, and today’s match would appear likely to follow that trend. Milan have scored in every one of their last 15 Serie A games, while Napoli have failed to score in just two of their last 15.
Leadership is lacking in both backlines, with the experience of Koulibaly and Kjær being hugely missed by each side respectively, and there are a whole host of fantastic attacking talents who will relish the prospect of facing a struggling and potentially disorganised backline.
Napoli will be boosted by the returning Zambo Anguissa and Insigne, and I expect them to push Milan all the way, while Ibrahimovic never lets a big game slide by without getting heavily involved one way or another. I couldn’t call this game one way or the other, but I am confident there will be goals, and you would anticipate that they will be shared around by two teams desperately trying to hang on to Inter’s coattails.
Written by an Andy verified content writer
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AC Milan v Napoli Cheat Sheet
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How to watch AC Milan v Napoli in Serie A
📅 When is AC Milan v Napoli? / Sunday, 19 December 2021, 19:45
🏟 Where is AC Milan v Napoli? / San Siro (Milan)
📺 What TV Channel is AC Milan v Napoli? / BT Sport 1
📱 Online Live Streaming for AC Milan v Napoli? / bet365
🟨 …And who is the referee for AC Milan v Napoli? / Davide Massa 🇮🇹
