Next Tuesday, 6th of January 2015, the former European champions, AC Milan, will entertain the surprising Sassuolo at the emblematic San Siro for round 17 of the Italian Serie A, on a match of the utmost importance for the Rossoneri, who don’t want to let their closest contenders escape at the top spots of the table.

After a somewhat fantastic win over the all-powerful Real Madrid at the Dubai Football Challenge last week, AC Milan is surely motivated for the next Serie A clash against Sassuolo. Filippo Inzaghi’s men have been slightly inconsistent so far this season, but their recent good results could provide them the confidence they need to face the new year’s complicated challenges.

After beating Napoli at San Siro early in December, AC Milan snatched a very important and impressive win from the visit to the Italian capital city to face AS Roma. The Rossoneri put up an overall quality performance and, although the Lupi enjoyed from more ball possession, the Milan team still managed to create several goal chances throughout the match.

AC Milan lost Fernando Torres, who will join Atlético Madrid on loan, but the club will certainly benefit from the arrival of Alessio Cerci, who failed to make a stand at the Spanish champions and will now try his luck at the Rossoneri. Cerci is delighted with the move and has already expressed that playing for AC Milan had always been his ambition.

For the predictably complicated match against Sassuolo on Tuesday, AC Milan’s young manager, Filippo Inzaghi, will not be able to rely on the contribution of the versatile Colombian defender Pablo Armero, who was sent-off on their previous clash against AS Roma.

As for Sassuolo, the modest Italian side has been enjoying from a very positive spell so far this season and, although they failed to win their recent three matches, they are still one of the most pleasant surprises of this campaign.

After a splendid draw against AS Roma early in December, Sassuolo took a stumble on their visit to Palermo, where they lost the match by 2-1. On their last clash before the festive break, the Neroverdi didn’t manage to get anything better than a draw against Cesena, who keep struggling at the bottom of the table.

The former European champions, AC Milan, are firm favourites for the next Tuesday’s clash, but they will certainly need to work hard in order to overcome the mighty Emilia-Romagna side.

AC Milan

Stats: W-3 L-1 D-1

Recent Form - WDWLW

Sassuolo

Stats: W-2 L-1 D-2

Recent Form - DLDWW

Possible Line-ups

AC Milan (4-3-3) - Diego Lopez - Bonera - Zapata - Mexes - De Sciglio - Andrea Poli - De Jong - Montolivo - Keisuke Honda - El Shaarawy - Jeremy Menez

Sassuolo (4-3-3) - Consigli - Vrsaljko - Cannavaro - Acervi - Peluso - Magnanelli - Missiroli - Taider - Zaza - Floccari - Berardi

Prediction

AC Milan 2 Sassuolo 1