Milan can close gap as they scrap with Viola in Serie A

AC Milan v Fiorentina

• Serie A
• Sunday, January 17th
• Kick-off: 19:45
• San Siro, Milan
• Live on BT Sport 1

Milan to turn tables on Fiorentina

San Siro hosts AC Milan may be 11 points behind Fiorentina in Serie A, but have gone on a mini-run of late, which makes them tempting at 11/5 with Coral to take a point from this tussle.

The Rossoneri have lost only one of their last nine rumbles, with a Bologna beating the only blip from recent results which include Sampdoria’s Coppa Italia scalp.

While, Viola have fallen off the pace after briefly looking like Scudetto contenders, with three defeats from their past five frays across all competitions. Results have also been few and far between in the big games recently, with losses to all of Napoli, Juventus and Roma this term.

Rossoneri must reject Viola record

Though the revived Rossoneri may look good value for a draw, odds of 7/5 seem a smidge to short for victory, as Fiorentina have a fine record in Lombardy.

With two triumphs for the Tuscans in the past two tussles, and just one defeat in their last nine encounters with the Milanese men, there is a convincing case for this match ending evenly for the fourth occasion in four-and-a-half campaigns.

But, Fiorentina still seem to lack their early-season sharpness to be prudent enough at 2/1 for all the spoils from this scuffle, while customers can plump for a repeat of the 1-1 scoreline from Viola’s last visit to the San Siro at 11/2. And, as these sides have failed to keep clean sheets in their previous two outings each, there are odds of 4/5 for both teams to score.

Ilicic to be on target again

There will be plenty of forwards threats on show at the San Siro, and none more intriguing than Slovenia striker Josip Ilicic, who has hit three in as many of his last matches and two in his past three versus Milan.

So, punters can back Ilicic at an excellent 7/1 to open the scoring, or 13/5 to fire anytime, with Croatian partner in crime Nikola Kalinic an equally attractive 9/5 in that anytime market. As for the bench, Paulo Sousa can call upon ex-Manchester United man Giuseppe Rossi, who is worth a wager at 9/2.

While, for the hosting Rossoneri, former Fiorentina coach Sinisa Mihajlovic has controversial midfielder Kevin-Prince Boateng (8/1 to find the net last) back in the ranks, while apparent Chelsea target Carlos Bacca (7/1 to bag a brace or better) and young-gun Mbaye Niang (5/2 to be on target anytime) have been regular sources of strikes.