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AC Milan and Juventus are gearing up for a big clash at Allianz Stadium, with both sides looking to continue their perfect record so far. After two games, the Rossoneri and the Bianconeri are both on six points with a +3 goal difference in the league standings. In other words, they have started the season well and that should make for an exciting Sunday clash. Read SempreMilan ad-free and get access to exclusive news. Click here for a free trial! Ruben Amorim, in his press conference, said that it will be a great test for Milan after what has been two okay games. However, he downplayed the fact that it’s a big game, especially since they have struggled more against smaller sides. Game date: Sunday, September 6 Kick-off time: 20:45 (CEST) Venue: Allianz Stadium Referee: Maurizio Mariani (VAR: Michael Fabbri) Team news Based on the images that have been published throughout the week, the players have been in a very good mood during the training sessions. That’s easy to understand after two wins in two games, especially since success gives you more belief in what you are doing. That said, it’s not been a solely positive week for Milan, as Matteo Gabbia was forced to leave Tuesday’s training session early. The centre-back is struggling with an ankle injury and he has been ruled out for the game. Initially, that would have left Amorim with just Sankhoun Diawara on the bench, but the gaffer chose to reinstate Fikayo Tomori just before the mercato deadline. The Englishman has been training with the team in the last few days, but given the circumstances, he’s not expected to start. Just to summarise, Milan are dealing with one absence for this one and that’s important to remember for when we take a look at Juventus later. Moving on to the starting eleven, the defensive back three should remain unchanged, with Mario Gila, Koni De Winter, and Strahinja Pavlovic hoping to continue their good form. In midfield, meanwhile, Pervis Estupinan is currently ahead of Davide Bartesaghi for the left wing-back role. Finally, Alphadjo Cisse and Goncalo Ramos will keep their spots in attack but Ruben Loftus-Cheek won’t, having been a big disappointment so far this season. Adrien Rabiot should get the chance instead, which makes sense after two good cameos off the bench. As for good players to bring on during the game, Amorim has a lot of options. The new signing Diego Moreira is eager to get his first minutes for the club, while Alexis Saelemaekers earned the MOTM award last time out. It’s also worth mentioning the most recent arrival, Omari Hutchinson, who has looked lively in training during the week and thus might get a chance. Of course, that will likely depend on how the game pans out. Predicted Milan XI (3-4-2-1): Maignan; Gila, De Winter, Pavlovic; Chukwueze, Modric, Musah, Estupinan; Rabiot, Cisse; Ramos. Predicted bench: P. Terracciano, Torriani, Diawara, Tomori, F. Terracciano, Bartesaghi, Moreira, Jashari, Comotto, Saelemaekers, Loftus-Cheek, Pulisic, Hutchinson, Camarda. Injuries & suspensions: Gabbia. The opponents After the poor results with Igor Tudor, Juventus opted to hire a much more experienced and proven name in Spalletti just nine rounds into the 2025-26 season. It was definitely the right decision as the Bianconeri only lost five games after that. Had it not been for a defeat and a draw in the final two games, against Fiorentina and Torino, then they would have finished inside the top four. The story is somewhat similar to Milan, as such, even if the Rossoneri’s collapse was much worse. In any case, Juventus confirmed Spalletti for the current season, taking to the mercato to reinforce his squad. Quite a lot of signings have been brought in, from Randal Kolo Muani to Kerim Alajbegovic, who was linked with Milan this summer. Jhon Lucumi and Guglielmo Vicario also deserve a mention, but the biggest positive is arguably that they haven’t parted ways with their key players. Timothy Weah, Dusan Vlahovic and Lois Openda are some of those who have said goodbye, but they have hardly been crucial lately. The Bianconeri still have the likes of Bremer, Andrea Cambiaso, Weston McKennie, Manuel Locatelli, Kenan Yildiz, and Francesco Conceicao in the squad, not to mention that Nico Gonzalez has returned from his loan at Atletico Madrid and is already impressing. In short, Juventus have strengthened their squad this summer, as opposed to selling several of their stars to fund new signings. That means Spalletti should have a pretty good chance of building on the success they had last season which, again, almost got them top four. We mentioned Vicario above, but let’s really focus on the goalkeeping position for a second. One of Juve’s biggest issues in recent seasons has definitely been Michele Di Gregorio’s errors between the sticks. So, replacing him with a keeper as capable as Vicario is a huge boost, as seen in the last game. Enough about the season as a whole though, what about the current situation? Luckily for Milan, a lot of key players above will actually miss the game due to injury, including Yildiz and McKennie. This was confirmed by Spalletti during the pre-match presser. The head coach also confirmed that the new (loan) signing Woltemade could be used off the bench, even if Kolo Muani will be the sole striker in the starting eleven. Predicted Juventus XI (4-2-3-1): Vicario; Kalulu, Bremer, Lucumi, Celik; Locatelli, Douglas Luiz; Conceicao, Nico Gonzalez, Boga; Kolo Muani. Predicted bench: Grabara, Pinsoglio, Kelly, Rugani, Gatti, Koopmeiners, Owusu, Alajbegovic, Milik, Woltemade. Injuries & suspensions: Yildiz, McKennie, Thuram, Cambiaso, Ekhator, Cabal, Pape Matar Sarr. Head to head Milan and Juventus have faced each other 230 times in their history, with 66 wins in favour of the Rossoneri, 89 in favour of the Bianconeri, and 75 draws. In recent times, the latter tally has certainly been added to as the two sides have been hard to separate. Taking a look at this fixture specifically, i.e. at Allianz Stadium, Milan have struggled with zero wins in the last three years. There has only been one defeat in that same period, but a draw doesn’t help that much in a game that both teams want to win. That was certainly the feeling last season. Milan had plenty of chances to win the game, but Christian Pulisic missed a penalty and Rafael Leao wasted a 1v1. Let’s hope we don’t see something similar on Sunday evening, because that would be painful. Key stats and facts ➤ Four of the last five Serie A matches between Juventus and AC Milan have ended goalless, including the two most recent; these two teams have not drawn more consecutive league games since 1973 (four on that occasion), while they have never recorded more consecutive goalless encounters in the competition. ➤ Juventus have kept a clean sheet in each of their last six Serie A matches against Milan; the last time they recorded more consecutive clean sheets against a single opponent in the competition was in 2016 (nine against Palermo), while the Rossoneri have never recorded a longer run without scoring against a single team in their history in the competition. ➤ AC Milan are unbeaten in five of their last six Serie A away games against Juventus (W2 D3) – keeping four clean sheets in the process (0.5 goals conceded on average per game) – after a run of nine consecutive away defeats against the Bianconeri in Turin (conceding on average two goals per game). ➤ After wins against Frosinone and Parma, Juventus could keep clean sheets in their first three Serie A matches for the second consecutive season (after having achieved it last season with Igor Tudor). ➤ After the wins against Turin and Venezia, Ruben Amorim could become the fourth manager to win all of his first three Serie A games in charge of AC Milan, after Maro Sperone in 1952, Giuseppe Viani in 1956 and Luigi Bonizzoni in 1958. ➤ No team has attempted more long-range shots than Juventus in the first two matchdays of this Serie A season (18, tied with Sassuolo); on the other hand, only Torino (three) have attempted fewer than Milan (five, tied with Monza). ➤ After the 1-0 wins against Frosinone and 2-0 against Parma, Juventus could record three clean sheets in the first three Serie A games of the season for the second time in the last 10 years, after 2024/25 (when they conceded their first goal only on matchday seven). ➤ After victories against Frosinone and Parma, Juventus could win their first three Serie A matches for the second consecutive season (after having achieved it last season with Igor Tudor), doing so under two different coaches for the second time in their history in the competition, after 1985/86 and 1986/87 with Giovanni Trapattoni first and then Rino Marchesi. ➤ Nico González has been involved in three goals in four home games against Milan in Serie A (one goal and two assists). After his goal against Parma, he can score in two consecutive league appearances for the first time since June 2024, while playing for Fiorentina. ➤ Adrien Rabiot, who both scored and provided an assist in the previous away match this season (against Torino), could become the first non-Italian player in Serie A history to score in a Juventus-Milan match with both teams (in general, Manuel Locatelli and Leonardo Bonucci have achieved this in the last 10 years). Ones to watch Given that Gila and Pavlovic have both impressed so far this season, the pressure is definitely on De Winter to show more in the heart of the defence. With Gabbia potentially out for a few more games, this is a great chance for the Belgian to prove that he should be the starter after he returns. It might sound like a boring one to name, but even though Ramos got off the mark against Venezia, he will be looking to do even better this time. He missed quite a lot of chances at San Siro, after all, and he cannot afford to do the same against a team like Juventus. The signing of Vicario is simply terrific for Juventus, especially when you consider the issues with Di Gregorio, so he could potentially be a real thorn in Milan’s side. He made a tremendous save against Parma last night, so he’s already in form. I mentioned Ramos, so I may as well mention Kolo Muani as well. He’s yet to score his first goal for the club and will be eager to do so. It would be perfect timing against a team like Milan, so the Rossoneri defence (especially the aforementioned De Winter) will have to watch out. Prediction Truth be told, I rarely head into the Juve away fixture with confidence, but this feels different somehow. It might not be enough for a win in the end, but Milan’s proactive and attacking style should give them the best chance at succeeding. If I have to stick my neck out, I would say that the Rossoneri will decide the game in the second half through the former Bianconeri man Rabiot. Juventus 1-2 AC Milan