A consistent Achilles’ heel: Milan must improve against teams above them | OneFootball

AC Milan will look to do something against Atalanta at San Siro tonight that they have not done often enough: win against a team above them.

Milan are struggling to keep a clean sheet at San Siro having had only one clean sheet in their last eight home games in the league. However, the change to a three-man defence in the last round against Udinese yielded a 4-0 win, so the aim will be to build on that solidity.

Furthermore, the Rossoneri have only collected nine points against teams in the top half of the table. Atalanta, on the other hand, have already collected 22 points against the top ten, exceeding their total for the entire last season.

The trend must change and quickly, because from now until the end of the season (including tonight) Milan will face three teams that are ahead of them in the table. Roma away and Bologna at home are the other games.

With the exception of other competitions (the Diavolo beat Roma in the Coppa Italia, plus Juventus and Inter in the Supercoppa Italiana), the Rossoneri have won one game against sides above them in the standings.

That win came back in the fifth round of the season, a 2-1 derby victory over Inter thanks to Matteo Gabbia’s late header. Aside from that, the matches against teams higher in the table have produced nothing but misery generally.