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AC Milan will take on Roma in the 10th round of Serie A on Sunday evening. In front of a sold-out San Siro, the Rossoneri will be looking to leapfrog the Giallorossi.
Both teams have started the season better than most expected, with 18 and 21 points respectively, so the game could be a close affair. After two consecutive draws, you could certainly argue that it’s more important for Milan, also because they are behind in the standings.
During his usual pre-match presser, Massimiliano Allegri stated that it’s always difficult to play against a side coached by Gian Piero Gasperini. He seemed to manage the expectations a little, while also making it clear that it’s an opportunity to claim three important points.
Game date: Sunday, November 2
Kick-off time: 20:45 (CET)
Venue: San Siro
Referee: Marco Guida (VAR: Aleandro Di Paolo)
Team news
After the game against Atalanta, the likes of Fikayo Tomori, Rafael Leao and Santiago Gimenez had to be brought to the side due to minor injuries. Thankfully, the first two have been called up for the game after recovering quickly, while the striker is still struggling with his ankle.
In addition to those two swift recoveries, Ardon Jashari has also been included in the matchday squad, despite Allegri suggesting that it was unlikely during his presser. However, even though he’s called up, you would imagine he won’t get any playing time due to the lack of training sessions in his legs.
Pervis Estupinan returned to training a few days back and has also been included, as expected, but he’s currently slightly behind Davide Bartesaghi in the race for a starting spot. The youngster has impressed a lot so this is far from surprising, especially since he’s in top condition.
In midfield, Ruben Loftus-Cheek will get a big opportunity after doing well off the bench against Atalanta. The Englishman’s entrance should be at the expense of Samuele Ricci, despite the goal last time out, with Youssouf Fofana keeping his spot in the eleven.
Up front, Christopher Nkunku has a point to prove and will most likely team up with Rafael Leao, who has worked well in training after the hip injury sustained against Atalanta. The duo have never started together before and have only played a few minutes together, so it’s a bit of a test.
Allegri stated during his presser that Emanuele Sala and Diego Sia would be called up. However, that hasn’t materialised as the duo will be with the Futuro side instead. Most likely, that decision was made after the recovery of Jashari and Tomori. The youngster Alex Castiello is in the squad, though.
All things considered, the situation is looking much better for Allegri and we can only hope that it will continue to improve. The fact remains that some players need to step up a bit more and with options on the bench, the competition might be fueled.
Predicted Milan XI (3-5-2): Maignan; Tomori/De Winter, Gabbia, Pavlovic; Saelemaekers, Loftus-Cheek, Modric, Fofana, Bartesaghi; Nkunku, Leao.
Predicted bench: Terracciano, Pittarella, De Winter, Odogu, Athekame, Estupinan, Ricci, Jashari, Castiello.
Injuries & suspensions: Rabiot, Pulisic, Gimenez.
The opponents
The 2024-25 season was rather hectic for Roma, or at least up until November, with two coaches shown the door (Daniele De Rossi and Ivan Juric) before Claudio Ranieri was brought back. Unsurprisingly, he managed to get the team going and secured a 5th-place finish in the end.
However, with Ranieri making it clear that he wouldn’t continue as a coach, the Giallorossi decided to go down the ambitious route by hiring Gasperini. After many successful years at Atalanta, the 67-year-old is now enjoying his first proper tenure at a big club (excluding the short Inter spell).
So far, the season has gone well for Roma with 21 points collected after nine games (seven wins and two draws). On the other hand, they haven’t had the toughest run of games and apart from the win against Verona, they have always prevailed by the odd goal.
We haven’t exactly seen the attacking-focused and flowing football that Gasperini provided at Atalanta, let’s just put it that way. As Allegri would say, however, the only thing that matters at the end of the day is winning games and Roma have done that.
Injury-wise, Gasperini has a rather good situation as only two players should miss the game, namely Angelino and Evan Ferguson. The latter suffered a sprained ankle last time out and should be out for a few weeks, which is a bit of a blow for Roma.
Interestingly, Artem Dovbyk isn’t in line to replace the Irishman, with Gasperini reportedly opting for Paulo Dybala as the ‘striker’ instead. Everyone knows the Argentine’s qualities, especially Milan as he has scored ten goals against them.
Behind him, the likes of Matias Soule and Bryan Cristante are expected to start. While the former was expected, fielding the latter in such an advanced position is certainly a bit surprising. After all, the former Milan man has made his name as a defensive-minded midfielder.
Predicted Roma (3-4-2-1): Svilar; Hermoso, Mancini, Ndicka; Celik, El Aynaoui, Kone, Wesley; Cristante, Soule; Dybala.
Predicted bench: Vasquez, Gollini, Ghilardi, Tsimikas, Sangaré, Ziolkowski, Rensch, Pisilli, Baldanzi, El Shaarawy, Pellegrini, Dovbyk, Bailey.
Injuries & suspensions: Angelino and Ferguson.
Head to head
It will be the 203rd encounter between Milan and Roma tomorrow. In the 202 games played so far, the Rossoneri are ahead with 85 wins compared to the Giallorossi’s 54, while there have been 63 draws. That said, Milan have just one win in the last five games against Roma.
The most recent encounter took place at the end of the 2024-25 season, with Roma prevailing 3-1 in front of their home crowd at Stadio Olimpico. The Giallorossi took the lead after just three minutes through Mancini, and Gimenez’s red card in the 21st minute made it too difficult for Milan.
At San Siro, on the other hand, the last league game ended in a 1-1 draw after goals from Tijjani Reijnders and Paulo Dybala. Afterwards, Paulo Fonseca got sacked and Milan’s downward trend continued, despite an initial Sergio Conceicao boost.
Key facts and stats
➤ There have been 101 official matches between the two teams at San Siro, with Milan winning 53 (the last 3-1 in last year’s Coppa Italia), 26 draws (the last 1-1 in last year’s Serie A), and Roma winning 22 (the last 1-0 in the 2023/24 Europa League).
➤ The Rossoneri’s 2010/11 Scudetto under coach Massimiliano Allegri was mathematically secured on matchday 36 of that tournament, with a 0-0 draw at Roma.
➤ Roma have scored in seven official matches against Milan, with a total of 10 goals: the last match without a goal was on June 28, 2020, when Milan beat Roma 2-0 in the league.
➤ Milan are unbeaten in nine official matches, with seven wins and two draws. The Rossoneri’s last defeat was a 2-1 loss to Cremonese at San Siro on August 24, in their Serie A opener.
➤ In their last nine home games, the Rossoneri have always scored, with a total of 18 goals. Their last game without scoring was Milan 0-1 Atalanta (Serie A, April 20).
➤ Milan are the team that concede the most goals in the first 15 minutes of the second half: three of the Rossoneri’s seven goals were conceded in this period of the game, along with Verona, Inter, Cagliari, Atalanta, and Cremonese.
➤ Roma have not drawn since the derby at Lazio on April 13, which ended 1-1. In the following 18 official games, between the old and new seasons, they have recorded 12 wins and 6 defeats.
➤ Massimiliano Allegri and Gian Piero Gasperini have faced each other 29 times in official matches, with 13 wins for the Rossoneri coach, 10 draws, and 6 wins for Gasperini.
➤ Massimiliano Allegri has his best month in November with 2.21 points per game at the helm of Italian clubs, with a record of 43 wins, 13 draws, and 8 losses in 64 games played.
➤ Rafael Leao has scored two goals against Roma in his career: on January 6, 2021 (Milan 3-1 Roma) and on September 1, 2023 (Roma 1-2 Milan).
➤ Matteo Gabbia is the only Milan player to have played every minute of the 2025/26 Serie A season so far.
Ones to watch
After a promising cameo against Atalanta, it looks like Loftus-Cheek will get the chance from start against Roma, most likely in midfield. With his physique, he could be very important for Milan, especially in the penalty box as the Rossoneri won’t have a proper striker up front.
Then, while Leao is a shout too, Nkunku has to show something more than he did against Atalanta. He looked like he lacked a lot of confidence on the pitch, while failing to connect with his teammates, so a turnaround is needed this time out.
For the away side, Mancini has a knack for doing really well against Milan, both in defence and in attack. The forwards will have to avoid contact-heavy duels with him, seeing as he’s very strong, and the defenders will have to keep an eye on him on set pieces.
It’s impossible not to mention Dybala here. The Argentine has seemingly regained form and we all know how lethal he can be against Milan. Allegri’s men will have to do everything in their power to get him to shoot with his right foot instead of the left.
Prediction
It won’t be an easy game for Milan, that much is clear, but the feeling is that they might be able to come away with the win after all. Both sides have struggled to find the back of the net in numbers, while being solid defensively, so it could be a low-scoring affair.
I’m going to put my neck on the line and say that Loftus-Cheek will decide the game for the Rossoneri with a header.
Milan 1-0 Roma
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