The past few years have been very disappointing for AC Milan and their fans. They have not come close to winning Serie A and have struggled in European competition. However, with new owners in place and huge investment during the summer, AC Milan look like a team capable of challenging at the top of Serie A once again this season.
The Rossoneri finished 6th in Serie A last season and will be expecting to end this campaign much higher in the table. Their opponents this weekend are Cagliari who finished in a respectable 11th place in Serie A last season. They will be hoping for something similar this time around.
AC Milan Form
AC Milan started their season back in July thanks to their qualification to the third round of the Europa League. They defeated CS U Craiova 1-0 away and 2-0 at home before demolishing Shkendija 6-0 at the San Siro in the first leg of the playoff round. With the tie in the bag AC Milan finished the job off with a 1-0 win in the return leg.
Between the Europa League games against Shkendija, AC Milan started their Serie A campaign away to Crotone and came away with a good 3-0 victory. With so many new signings in the starting XI, it is hard to compare this AC Milan team to the one from last season.
However, with the addition of Leonardo Bonucci in defence they are yet to concede a goal in 5 competitive matches.
Cagliari Form
Cagliari could not have asked for a tougher start to their Serie A campaign having travelled to Turin to play Juventus on the opening weekend of the season.
Massimo Rastelli’s team were not expected to leave the home of the champions with anything to show for their efforts and that’s exactly how it turned out as they lost the game 3-0. If that wasn’t bad enough, they must now face a trip to the San Siro to play a resurgent AC Milan.
Including matches from last season, Cagliari’s away form in Serie A is poor and they have lost all their last 4 matches on the road, conceding 14 goals in the process. In fact, they have won just 2 of their previous 16 away Serie A games.
Team News
AC Milan will be without the injured midfield duo of Giacomo Bonaventura and Lucas Biglia. They are expected to start in a 4-3-3 formation with new signing Nikola Kalinic likely start from the bench. Cagliari are without the injured Rafael but otherwise have a full-strength squad for this game. They are expected to play in a 4-3-1-2 formation, with plenty of protection in-front of the back four.
Top Betting Tips
The way AC Milan have started this season it is obvious they mean business and this has been backed up by their expenditure in the transfer market. They are clear favourites to win this game and you can back them at 2/9 with Ladbrokes.
Defensively AC Milan have been excellent at the start of this season and are yet to concede goal. Having seen Cagliari draw a blank at Juventus last week, AC Milan will be hoping for a clean sheet. Ladbrokes offer 20/21 for AC Milan to win the match to nil.
Young Italian striker Patrick Cutrone has scored in his last two games for AC Milan, including the Serie A match at Crotone last weekend. You can get 10/3 with Ladbrokes for Cutrone to open the scoring in this game.