After seemingly having turned a corner, Milan were dealt a surprise setback when they faced off against Sassuolo. The Neroverdi have proved themselves to be a thorn in the side of the Rossoneri as they have now won two out of their three meetings so far.
The 2-1 reversal at San Siro was quite disappointing, especially considering their solid win over Napoli and frustrating Roma in a 0-0 draw in their last two games of 2014 and fans will be expecting to see Filippo Inzaghi's men turn things around against a team that despite their Europa League success so far, have struggled in league play.
The Granata have scored a measly 12 goals so far, which ties them with fellow strugglers Chievo as the worst attacking side in the league. In fact, Giampiero Ventura's side have won just one of their last five Serie A fixtures and will be desparate to earn a win in front of their home support.
Unfortunately for Milan, they will be without Keisuke Honda as the Japanese international is currently away with his national side for the Asian Cup. Honda has been a man reborn under Inzaghi and along with PSG's Jeremy Menez, have netted over half (14) of the team's 26 goals this season.
One player, though, that Serie A followers will be watching closely is Alessio Cerci, with the attacker set to face off against the team that he left this summer for a disappointing short spell in Spain. Due to his lack of playing time, the attacker looked sluggish and off the pace when he took to the pitch against Sassuolo. As such, Inzaghi was quite cautious when asked as to whether he could start against his former colleagues:
"I would like to have Cerci start, but I have to think about his [physical] condition," the former striker stated in his pre-match press conference.
"[But] he is improving day by day and very soon we will get to see him starting."
Meanwhile, Ventura may not have Brazilian striker Amauri available due to fitness issues, but veteran attacker Fabio Quagliarella will definitely start. The former Juventus man could cause some problems for Milan's back-line due to his long-range shooting abilities and will be definitely looking to score his first Serie A goal of 2015.
Of some concern to Diavolo fans is the condition of Stephan El Shaarawy, especially given his fitness woes all of last season after he missed practice due to an injury. Still, he should recover in time and seems to be building up a growing understanding with Menez in attack.
Both teams will definitely be pushing for a win as they hope to start inching up the table. The middle range is quite congested at this point, meaning that victory could vault one up several places while a loss could push one further down towards the dreaded relegation zone.
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