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AC Milan will play their final game of 2025 on Sunday as they take on Hellas Verona at San Siro in the lunchtime kick-off.
On the one hand, things are a lot more positive for Milan than they were on year ago, given they are one point off top. On the other hand, they dropped points to Sassuolo last time out in the league, and were knocked out of the Coppa Italia and Supercoppa Italiana at the first real hurdle.
Before the game, Massimiliano Allegri stated in his pre-match press conference that he agrees with Fabio Capello’s claim that getting in the top four will be difficult for Milan, while refuting some of the rumours surrounding exits in midfield.
Game date: Sunday, December 28
Kick-off time: 12:30 (CET)
Venue: San Siro
Referee: Michael Fabbri (VAR: Mazzoleni)
Team news
As mentioned, things are certainly a lot more rosy than they were in the period between Christmas and the new year in 2024. In that time, Milan decided to sack Paulo Fonseca after a home draw with Roma, appointing Sergio Conceicao as his replacement rather quickly.
Now, Milan are going into a run of games that they simply have to rack up consecutive wins in. After Verona is Cagliari, Genoa and Fiorentina in January. They will face the 18th, 15th, 16th, and 20th-placed teams in the league: four of the bottom six.
There is a mental hurdle to overcome though clearly, given the Rossoneri have already dropped points to Cremonese, Parma, Pisa and Sassuolo, conceding two goals in each of those matches too.
In his presser, Allegri revealed that Rafael Leao will be out of the game on Sunday because he is still feeling a bit of discomfort, having not played since the 3-2 comeback win over Torino earlier in the month.
He also confirmed that Matteo Gabbia will not make it back as he continues to recover from the hyper-extended knee that he sustained during the draw with Sassuolo. Santiago Gimenez is out after undergoing surgery to hopefully finally correct his troublesome ankle.
So, that means that Allegri will not have any real changes available to him from the Supercoppa Italiana game against Napoli last week.
Mike Maignan will remain between the sticks, whilst the defence will be made up of Fikayo Tomori, Koni De Winter and Strahinja Pavlovic. The lack of alternate options in the defence certainly is showing up here.
In midfield, Alexis Saelemaekers and Davide Bartesaghi’s dominance on the wings is confirmed once again. Then, Luka Modric, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Adrien Rabiot will start in midfield.
Finally, Christopher Nkunku will partner with Christian Pulisic up top, with Niclas Fullkrug not yet eligible to start.
Predicted Milan XI (3-5-2): Maignan; Tomori, De Winter, Pavlovic; Saelemaekers, Loftus-Cheek, Modric, Rabiot, Bartesaghi; Nkunku, Pulisic.
Bench: Terracciano, Pittarella, Athekame, Odogu, Estupinan, Fofana, Jashari, Ricci, Leao.
Injuries & suspensions: Gabbia and Gimenez.
The opponents
Heading into the 2025-26 season, the challenge for Verona was to try and follow up a relatively positive campaign last time out under Paolo Zanetti in which they ended up finishing 14th and therefore a few places clear of the relegation places.
The Gialloblu had an intriguing summer window in which they spent around €16.6m but made about €26m in sales. Amin Sarr, Cheikh Niasse, Antoine Bernede, Rafik Belghali and Grigoris Kastanos all arrived for between €1m and €3.5m.
It is the loan business Verona did that has provided a boost to their squad. Moatasem Al-Musrati joined from Besiktas, Victor Nelson came from Galatasaray, Gift Orban from Hoffenheim and Armel Bella-Kotchap from Southampton.
In terms of sales, almost all of the money came from two exits: Jackson Tchatchoua to Wolves for €12.5m, and Diego Coppola to Brighton.
Verona have spent the majority of the season inside the bottom three as they failed to win in any of their first 12 league games. However, they won their most recent two, 3-1 against Atalanta and 2-1 away at Fiorentina.
Getting knocked out of the Coppa Italia on penalties by Serie B side Venezia was not well received, so without those latest two Serie A wins, Zanetti might well have been under an awful lot of pressure. As it stands, they are 18th.
In terms of selection issues for Verona to contend with, there are two known absences: Suslov is expected to be out for several weeks longer, while Belghali has headed to the African Cup of Nations. Both Akpa Akpro and Bradaric are doubtful.
As a result, the starting XI should be quite straightforward. Montipo will sit at the base of the defence, with Nunez, Nelson and Bella-Kotchap sitting in front of the goalkeeper.
Oyegoke and Valentini will start on the wings, whilst Serdar, Al-Musrati and Bernede make up the midfield trio. Finally, Giovane will sit behind Mosquera in the No.10 position, looking to create some threat to the Rossoneri.
Predicted Verona XI (3-5-1-1): Montipo; Nunez, Nelson, Bella-Kotchap; Oyegoke, Serdar, Al-Musrati, Bernede, Valentini; Giovane; Mosquera.
Predicted bench: Perilli, Toniolo, Fallou, Harroui, Slotsager, Ebosse, Niasse, Yellu, Kastanos, Sarr, Ajayi, Gagliardini, Orban.
Injuries & suspensions: Suslov, Belghali, Akpa Akpro and Bradaric.
Head to head
Milan have played against Hellas Verona 80 times in their over 125-year history, across all competitions. The record reads 38 wins, 28 draws and just 14 defeats, which is a win rate of 47.5%.
Last season, the Diavolo did the double over the Gialloblu, winning both games 1-0. In the away fixture, Tijjani Reijnders got the only goal, while at home Santiago Gimenez was the hero.
In fact, Milan are on a nine-game winning run versus Verona. The last time they lost was away from home back in 2017, and the last home league defeat was all the way back in 1922.
Key facts and stats
➤ At San Siro, the two teams have met 38 times in official matches: 22 wins for Milan (most recently 1–0 in Serie A 2024/25), 16 draws (most recently 2–2 in Serie A 2020/21) and no wins for Verona.
➤ Verona have conceded at Milan in 17 consecutive matches (37 goals in total). Their last clean sheet at San Siro dates back to 7 February 1990 in Serie A (Milan–Verona 0–0).
➤ Milan are the Serie A 2025/26 team to have conceded the most penalties after 16 matchdays: 5, level with Udinese.
➤ Verona are the team that has collected the fewest points in Serie A in the 2025 calendar year: 31 points in 36 matches.
➤ Verona are the Serie A 2025/26 team with the fewest different goalscorers: 6, level with Parma.
➤ Christian Pulisic is one of the two Serie A players who have missed the most penalties in the 2025 calendar year: 2, level with Pinamonti (one missed with Genoa and one with Sassuolo).
➤ Mike Maignan is Milan’s most-used player in 2025: 48 appearances out of 50 official matches played in the calendar year. Milan’s top scorer is Christian Pulisic with 18 goals, followed by Rafael Leão with 12.
➤ Amin Sarr is Verona’s most-used player in 2025: 37 appearances out of 37 official matches. Verona’s top scorer is Gift Orban with 4 goals.
Ones to watch
Koni De Winter’s game will be of extreme interest here, especially with the January mercato opening in the next week. Milan need a defender, but whether they need a first-choice reinforcement or something else.
Much of the same can be said for Christopher Nkunku; however, Niclas Fullkrug’s arrival is already nearly confirmed. There is not much time for the Frenchman to prove himself, so this will be a big game for him.
Giovane has been a revelation for Hellas this season, and he can certainly have a big impact on the game. If he is not paid attention to, he can make the Rossoneri’s defence pay.
Additionally, Suat Serdar has the potential to create issues in midfield for the Diavolo. A lot has been said recently about the fatigue in the middle, and the German could make the most of any mistakes.
Prediction
This is a bigger game than most will give it credit for, unfortunately. It should be a routine win for a Scudetto challenger, but Milan have struggled in games of this sort all season. Getting through with three points, then, is a must, whether it is a nice one or not…
Milan 1-0 Verona
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