Vincenzo Montella’s men picked up a point last time out, when they secured a credible 1-1 draw against Lazio at the Stadio Olimpico. It looked for a long while that Milan would slip up in the capital, but a late leveller from Suso saw them edge a point ahead of their upcoming opponents. Milan may still fancy their chances of qualifying for the Europa League this season, but whether or not they achieve that objective it is clear that Montella’s young side are moving in the right direction as the Rossoneri look to become a force in the Italian game once more.
Fiorentina ran out comfortable 3-0 winners when they last took to the field, as Udinese failed to contain their opponents’ attacking threat at the Stadio Artemio Franchi. It was an excellent performance from Paulo Sousa’s men, but it also begged the question of what might have been had La Viola been able to replicate that type of display on a more regular basis throughout the campaign. As it is, Fiorentina find themselves out of the race for the Champions League spots with 14 matches left to play; Napoli, who occupy the third and final qualification place, have an 11-point advantage over the Tuscany-based outfit. Reaching the Europa League will now be the target for Sousa and his players between now and the end of May.
Milan will have to make do without Riccardo Montolivo (knee), Giacomo Bonaventura (thigh), Mattia De Sciglio (ankle), Luca Antonelli (calf) and Alessio Romagnoli (thigh), but Gabriel Paletta and Juraj Kucka are both available again following suspension. Montella will stick with the 4-3-3 setup he has employed for most of the season up to now, with Everton loanee Gerard Deulofeu and former Liverpool man Suso flanking Carlos Bacca up front. In between the sticks, 17-year-old Gianluigi Donnarumma will be looking to demonstrate his enormous potential once more.
Fiorentina, meanwhile, will be unable to call upon the services of Riccardo Saponara (knee), although they will hope to have Nikola Kalinic available for selection again after his spell on the sidelines with a knee issue. Sousa has settled on a 3-4-2-1 formation in the last few weeks and will almost certainly stick with the same shape here, with Borja Valero and Federico Bernardeschi the favourites to start in the two attacking slots behind the lone central striker, either Kalinic or Khouma Babacar.
Taking everything into account, it is probably worth putting your money behind a draw on Sunday night. These two sides appear to be pretty evenly matched, and while both are capable of some wonderful attacking football on their day, Milan and Fiorentina have also been guilty of inconsistency throughout the 2016/17 campaign. A draw with both teams to score could therefore be the way to go in this one, while Bernardeschi would be a sensible selection when it comes to choosing an anytime goalscorer.
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