Milan accept another such outcome though and should be confident after losing just one of their last 17 visits here, winning the second half ‘to nil’ in the last three of those.
Cagliari
Two consecutive defeats ‘to nil’ has left Cagliari dangerously placed one spot above the Serie A relegation zone, especially as after those results they’d played at least one game more than two of the sides below them (Venezia and Salernitana). However, given they recovered to get out of the drop zone after initially winning just one of their first 19 league games, they won’t be panicking just yet, and it could all come down to their final game of the season – against Venezia! Having mustered just one goal against AC Milan in six H2Hs, this appears to be a bad time to be welcoming the title chasers, even if Cagliari have seldom been hammered when hosting, conceding two goals or fewer in each of the last ten home H2Hs.
Patchy recent home league form is also ominous, with Cagliari drawing after scoring first in two of their last three Serie A home games.
AC Milan
Milan strengthened their title challenge by beating Empoli 1-0 on Saturday, taking advantage of fierce rivals Inter Milan dropping points. Having struggled recently to beat lower-half sides, they’ll have been relieved with that result which kept them top of the table, even if it wasn’t a sparkling performance. They’d accept another such outcome though and should be confident after losing just one of their last 17 visits here, winning the second half ‘to nil’ in the last three of those. A repeat wouldn’t surprise either, as Milan have won all seven league away games in which they led at half-time this term.
Gastón Pereiro netted during the second half in two of Cagliari’s last four home matches – all eight of his club goals since joining came after the break! Also dangerous late on, Olivier Giroud’s last three Serie A strikes for Milan – all in away matches – arrived in the second half. AC Milan are the only team to have scored in all of their Serie A away games this term.