Table-topping Juventus were given a large helping hand by title rivals Napoli last weekend as the Old Lady hunt a fifth successive Scudetto.
Having laboured to a 1-0 success against Empoli on Saturday night, the Bianconeri had their feet up on Sunday, watching on as the Partenopei self-destructed in a 3-1 reverse at Udinese.
Juventus now need to lose twice in their remaining seven matches to allow their rivals any opportunity to pull level. When you consider that the Turin titans have dropped a total of two points in their last 21 Serie A fixtures (W20-D1-L0), such a scenario starts to look rather improbable.
Max Allegri’s men have proven unbeatable and invincible on domestic shores since October and with Gigi Buffon breaking clean sheet records, the Bianconeri have shipped just 16 goals across the campaign – comfortably the lowest tally in the division.
It’s true, against Empoli, Juve enjoyed just 42% of the ball against opponents that hadn’t won since 10th January. But the visitors to the at J-Stadium rarely threatened to pull level after Mario Mandzukic had headed the hosts in front at the end of the first-half.
The result means Max Allegri’s men have W13-D1-L0 in Serie A this calendar year by an aggregate score of 28-2. Saturday night’s visitors to the San Siro have kept their sheets clean in 11 of their past 12 league dates and scored at least twice in 10 of their previous 11 on the road.
So the league leaders head into this weekend’s action in rude health and having already succeeded in each of their last six against hosts Milan – including each of their most recent two trips to San Siro – and holding a W8-D2-L2 head-to-head advantage over the past 12, another triumph could be on the cards.
Milan marked the sad passing of club legend Cesare Maldini with a dreadful 2-1 defeat in Bergamo against Atalanta, a result that has only escalated rumours that head coach Sinisa Mihajlovic will be sacked this summer.
The Serbian hasn’t seen eye-to-eye with the Rossoneri hierarchy since joining in the off-season and a two-point return from a possible 12 (W0-D2-L2) has left the Italian giants floundering in fifth.
Mihajlovic ordered his weary squad to a training retreat this week as punishment for their poor performances and there’s nothing in the Rossoneri’s recent form to suggest a quick-fix can be sorted ahead of this Coppa Italia final dress rehearsal.
Milan haven’t enjoyed their encounters with Juventus in recent years and appear to be ailing towards the campaign’s conclusion. With Juve delivering knockout blows in 10 of their last 11 road trips, I’ll take the Old Lady at 2.10 to win with the 3.60 also standing out on an away success alongside Under 2.5 Goals.
Since Allegri arrived in Turin, Juve have seen 18/35 (51%) away league fixtures feature fewer than three goals and Milan have followed suit in 19/34 (56%) at San Siro. And those records enhance to 9/16 (56%) when the Old Lad visit top-half teams and 8/16 (50%) when Milan entertain the top-10.