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AC Milan are back in Serie A action on Monday night in the final game of round 14, taking on Torino away from home.
Milan come into the game having had their 13-game unbeaten run across all competitions snapped by Lazio on Thursday in the Coppa Italia. Not only that, but their record over the past 12 seasons in away league games against Torino is a rough one, too.
In his pre-match press conference, Massimiliano Allegri spoke about the need to dig deep after a rare defeat and refocus on the main objective for the season: getting back into the Champions League with a top four finish.
Game date: Monday, December 8
Kick-off time: 20:45 (CET)
Venue: Stadio Olimpico Grande Torino
Referee: Daniele Chiffi (VAR: Ghersini)
Team news
As mentioned, Milan will make the trip to Turin have suffered a rare taste of defeat a few days ago, which means that a response is needed after a flat performance in the capital.
The Rossoneri still have the possibility of ending the round top of the table, especially after Roma lost against Cagliari away from home, while waiting for the result of Napoli-Juventus on Sunday night, and with Inter having won 4-0 against Como on Saturday.
Taking a look at previous results in this game, it’s clear that Allegri and his men have quite a challenge on their hands. In the last 12 Serie A games against Torino, the Diavolo have won just one game (and it was 0-7), drawing six and losing five.
In his press conference, Allegri stated that Christian Pulisic has been battling a fever and thus is in doubt for the game. Sky revealed that the American has not travelled with the rest of the team, but will do on the day of the game if he recovers overnight.
So, the American might have to sit out another game after missing nearly a month with a thigh issue sustained in the October international break. The other known absentees are Youssouf Fofana, Zachary Athekame and Santiago Gimenez, forcing the coach into some tweaks.
Contrary to what was being reported in the days building up to the game, the latest coming from Milanello suggests that Fofana’s place in midfield should be taken by Ruben Loftus-Cheek and not by the Samuele Ricci, the former Torino man. Christopher Nkunku meanwhile is expected to lead the line with Rafael Leao.
The three-man defence will be composed of Fikayo Tomori, Matteo Gabbia and Strahinja Pavlovic ahead of the captain Mike Maignan. Alexis Saelemaekers and Davide Bartesaghi will be the wing-backs, with Adrien Rabiot and Luka Modric joining Fofana in midfield.
Predicted Milan XI (3-5-2): Maignan; Tomori, Gabbia, Pavlovic; Saelemaekers, Loftus-Cheek, Modric, Rabiot, Bartesaghi; Nkunku, Leao.
Bench: Terracciano, Pittarella, De Winter, Odogu, Estupinan, Jashari, Ricci.
Injuries & suspensions: Athekame and Gimenez.
The opponents
Last season was a fairly uneventful one for Torino, as they finished in 11th place, with 10 wins, 14 draws and 14 defeats in their 38 games. That was enough to earn Marco Baroni the confidence of Urbano Cairo, but 2025-26 has not gone entirely to plan so far.
The Granata’s summer window saw them sign Zaharia Aboukhlal from Toulouse for €8m, Franco Israel from Sporting CP for €4m and Marcus Pedersen from Feyenoord for €3.5m. Kristjan Asllani, Cyril Ngonge, Giovanni Simeone and Niels Nkounkou all arrived on loan.
Torino have not won a game since the end of October, when they beat Genoa 2-1 at home. Since them, they have drawn with Bologna, Pisa and Juventus, before losing their last two games to Como (5-1) and Lecce.
They have however caused a couple of shocks, such as beating Napoli and Roma 1-0. They are currently sitting in 13th place with 14 points collected, which is four points clear of the relegation zone, but that gap has been getting smaller.
Results need to turn around with Baroni under pressure. He spoke at a pre-match press conference at Torino’s training ground on the eve of their game against Milan, and said that ‘crumbling or getting stronger’ are the only options.
In terms of selection problems, Baroni is expected to be without Ismajli, Schuurs, Savva and Simeone. However, only the latter is definitely out of the game, and the rest could yet make a late recovery to face the Rossoneri.
It should be a case of matched systems in this game with Torino having played a 3-5-2 in recent weeks. Ngonge and Adams should lead the line with Vlasic, Asllani and Casadei as the three-man midfield, Pedersen and Lazaro as wing-backs, then Tameze, Maripan and Coco as the back three.
Predicted Torino XI (3-5-2): Israel; Tameze, Maripan, Coco; Pedersen, Casadei, Asllani, Vlasic, Lazaro; Ngonge, Adams.
Predicted bench: Paleari, Popa, Nkounkou, Masina, Biraghi, Ilkhan, Ilic, Gineitis, Zapata, Dembélé, Anjorin, Aboukhlal, Njie.
Injuries & suspensions: Ismajli, Schuurs, Savva and Simeone.
Head to head
There are only three teams that Milan have played against more in their history as a club than Torino, which are Roma, Juventus and Inter. In their 200 meetings against the Granata, the Rossoneri have won 77, drawn 67 and lost 56.
Last season saw Torino take four points from Milan. They went up 2-0 at San Siro in the opening game of the season, with Malick Thiaw scoring an own-goal and Duvan Zapata heading in the second. However, Alvaro Morata and Noah Okafor each scored in the dying minutes to salvage a draw.
In the return game, Milan tasted defeat at the Grande Torino for the third straight game. Another early Thiaw own-goal gave the hosts the lead, and Gvidas Gineitis fired in a brilliant 76th-minute winner moments after Tijjani Reijnders had equalised.
Key facts and stats
➤ There have been 92 official meetings between the two sides in Turin since the introduction of the single-league format, with 34 wins for Torino (the most recent a 2–1 victory in Serie A 2024-25), 39 draws (the most recent a 0–0 in Serie A 2021-22) and 19 wins for the Rossoneri (the most recent a 7–0 in Serie A 2020-21).
➤ Torino have won their last three home games against Milan, something that had not happened since the period between 1975-76 and 1977-78.
➤ Torino have the worst defence in Serie A 2025-26, with 23 goals conceded in 13 matches.
➤ Torino are winless in their last five league games: three draws and two defeats since 26
October. Their last home victory was a 2–1 win over Genoa.
➤ Six of the 23 goals conceded by Torino have come in the 15 minutes before half-time,
between the 31st and 45th minute including stoppage time.
➤ Milan are the team that have conceded the most penalties in Serie A 2025-26, four so far,
level with Udinese, Fiorentina and Napoli.
➤ Milan are also the least-beaten side in Serie A 2025-26, with just one defeat, like Como.
➤ The Rossoneri’s only defeat came on the opening matchday: Milan–Cremonese 1–2. In the following 12 games Milan are unbeaten, with a record of eight wins and four draws.
➤ The Rossoneri have kept a clean sheet for the last 208 minutes: the last goal they conceded was in the 62nd minute of Parma–Milan 2–2 on 8 November, scored by Delprato.
➤ There have been seven previous official meetings between Marco Baroni and Massimiliano Allegri: five wins for the Rossoneri coach, one for the Granata coach and one draw.
➤ The first two meetings between the two coaches date back to Serie C2 2003-04: Carrarese–Aglianese 2–1 and Aglianese–Carrarese 1–0.
➤ Giovanni Simeone has scored three goals against the Rossoneri: two with Fiorentina, scoring both home and away in Serie A 2017/18, and one in Milan–Napoli in Serie A 2022-23.
Ones to watch
For Torino, the key performer this season has been Gio Simeone with his four goals, but as mentioned above he is expected to miss out. Che Adams is just behind him on three Serie A goals, so a lot of the responsibility for scoring goals will be put on the shoulders of the Scot.
There are four players who have started 12 of the 13 league games so far under Baroni: Saul Coco, Nikola Vlasic, Guillermo Maripan and Cesare Casadei. Those are the pillars he clearly wants to build his team around, and that is unlikely to change on Monday night.
Switching to Milan, there is definitely a bit of excitement to see Matteo Gabbia and Davide Bartesaghi back in the team after they were rested in midweek. The same applies to Luka Modric, who will reunite with Rabiot as a very effective double pivot so far.
It feels like whomever replaces Fofana will have to be watched closely given that the starting spot could be up for grabs, while up front if Nkunku does indeed get the nod then he simply has to show more than he has in previous starts.
Prediction
We don’t think any of the three possible results are out of the question. It feels like it will be a very physical and cagey battle for certain, and while the odd goal could well nick it, we have gone for the spoils being shared in Turin.
Torino 1-1 Milan
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