The five key battles that could win or lose the game for Milan against Verona

AC Milan will play their final game of 2025 this lunchtime when they welcome Hellas Verona to San Siro, hoping to sign off the year with a win.

Things are definitely looking better for Milan than they were one year ago, given they are one point off top. On the other hand, they dropped points to Sassuolo in their most recent Serie A fixture, and were knocked out of the Coppa Italia and Supercoppa Italiana at the first real hurdle.

Thus, there is a bit of pressure to end the calendar year with a win against a side currently in the relegation zone, but playing against teams lower in the table has not exactly brought the Rossoneri much joy thus far.

Milan vs. Verona: Five key battles

Looking at where the crucial duels are set to take place today, it feels like Christian Pulisic will once again be tasked with leading the line for Milan. He is the second-top scorer in Serie A while his strike partner Christopher Nkunku is yet to get off the mark, which says a lot about the two-sided nature of the attacking department.

On the other side, Victor Nelsson will look to continue in his role as the anchor of the three-man defence under Paolo Zanetti. On loan from Galatasaray, he is someone who has actually been linked with a move to Milan before, but this afternoon he will look to keep Pulisic quiet.

Photo by Marco Luzzani/Getty Images

Moving into the midfield, there will be a fascinating contest between the two deep-lying plakmakers, Luka Modric and Moatasem Al-Musrati. Modric has an outstanding start to the season but has looked a tad fatigued in recent outings, though he did get a bit of a rest in the Supercoppa so should be back to near 100%.

Al-Musrati meanwhile has only started twice for Verona this season after joining from Besiktas in the summer window in a loan deal. While the two might not necessarily face each other directly much, it feels like whoever controls the engine room has a good chance of dominating the middle third.

The stand-out player for a struggling Verona side this season so far has been young forward Giovane, who also came in the summer window. He has seven goal contributions – three goals and four assists – making him their main contributor ahead of Gift Orban.

He has actually earned links with a potential switch to Milan or another top club in Italy with his performances. Koni De Winter meanwhile has had a difficult time since he joined, so must look to bounce back with a performance in which he keeps the Brazilian as quiet as possible.

On the Rossoneri’s left flank, Davide Bartesaghi will do battle with Daniel Oyegoke. The rise of the Italian defender is something that has been covered in basically every newspaper in Italy, and it has earned him links with a switch to the Premier League, but Milan plan to lock him down for the foreseeable.

The brace Bartesaghi scored in the draw with Sassuolo showed he is adding some end product to his game. On the flip side, Oyegoke has played only 22 minutes this season and has not started a single match in the league, so it could be a tough first test for the 22-year-old Englishman.

Moving back to the midfield, this feels like a game in which Ruben Loftus-Cheek has to stake a claim for locking up the starting spot. With Youssouf Fofana back in full training the temptation was likely there for Allegri to go with the Frenchman, but instead he is expected to put faith in the Englishman.

Given the lack of forwards on the bench, there could well be a point in the match where Loftus-Cheek even ventures up front. His opposite number will be the French midfielder Antoine Bernede, the creative one out of Verona’s trio with a couple of goal involvements to his name this season.