Serie A preview: AC Milan vs. Lazio – Team news, opposition insight, stats and prediction | OneFootball

AC Milan will be up against Lazio tomorrow evening and following the defeat against Bologna, this is their last chance to keep the top-four hopes alive. However, even in the event of a win, the feeling is that the train has left the station.

It has been a very tough week for the Rossoneri. After the 2-1 defeat to Torino, the hope was that they would be able to at least win the game in hand against Bologna. Despite taking the lead, however, the Rossoblu eventually prevailed after scoring twice.

During his pre-match conference earlier today, Conceicao stated that he believes in top four and that things could improve with the slimmed schedule this month. Indeed, now he will actually get proper time to work with the players.

Game date: Sunday, March 2 Kick-off time: 20:45 (CET) Venue: San Siro Referee: Gianluca Manganiello (VAR: Mazzoleni)

Team news

There are still some injuries to note, unfortunately, as the likes of Kyle Walker, Alessandro Florenzi and Ruben Loftus-Cheek should miss out on the game. The Man City man might make it back for the bench, but either way Alex Jimenez will be the starting right-back again.

Luka Jovic returned last time out, though, and he looked quite promising from the few actions we saw. In terms of suspensions, there are none for the Rossoneri but Yunus Musah will have to be a bit careful, as he’s currently one card away from a suspension.

As for the starting XI, there has been a lot of talk about Conceicao’s constant changes and while the XI will be similar to what we saw against Bologna, he will make a change. Christian Pulisic, who wasn’t 100% on Thursday evening, will be back from the first minute.

Joao Felix, meanwhile, will be sent to the bench and as confirmed by the manager during his pre-match conference, he would have been benched already against Bologna if it wasn’t for Pulisic’s struggles. For the rest of the eleven, it’s pretty much what you would expect.

Mike Maignan, Theo Hernandez and Tijjani Reijnders will continue their run of starting every single game under Conceicao’s guidance. The Dutchman will likely have a more advanced role, more No.10-esque, as was so successful earlier in the season.

Speaking of No.10, Rafael Leao will be looking to find the back of the net once again, as well as some more consistency in the final third. The goal was great last time out but he also struggled a bit in the 1v1s, so hopefully his confidence has been boosted by the former.

Predicted Milan XI (4-2-3-1): Maignan; Jimenez, Thiaw, Pavlovic, Theo Hernandez; Fofana, Musah; Pulisic, Reijnders, Leao; Gimenez

The opponents

It has been a rather strong season from Lazio so far, under the guidance of Marco Baroni, as they are currently in fifth place with 47 points. This means they certainly have a chance of finishing inside the top four, with Juventus just two points ahead.

Having said that, after drawing just three games earlier on, the Biancocelesti have failed to clinch all three points in their last two league games (now five draws total). They could thus use a win tomorrow to get back on the right track.

Taking a look at Lazio’s squad for a second, it’s clear that Baroni deserves a lot of praise. Apart from perhaps Alessio Romagnoli, Mattia Zaccagni and Boulaye Dia, they don’t have many standout players in the traditional sense but the entire team is very solid.

Their forward Taty Castellanos, who many ruled out in the striker role, has also scored an impressive 12 goals in all competitions this season. Add eight assists to that and you can understand his importance for the team. Point being, Lazio don’t have the biggest names but they have delivered anyway.

Fortunately for Milan, the Argentine striker will not be available tomorrow due to injury, and the same can be said for Elseid Hysaj. Matias Vecino and Romagnoli were both doubts for this game but have recovered in time, per the latest reports.

Romagnoli is, of course, a familiar face for Milan fans as he captained the team for many years – including in the Scudetto season. A lot has changed since then, as has become painfully clear lately, and you could even argue that the centre-back upgraded with the move.

Predicted Lazio XI (4-2-3-1): Mandas; Lazzari, Gila, Romagnoli, Tavares; Guendozi, Rovella; Isaksen, Dia, Zaccagni; Tchaouna

Head to head

Milan and Lazio have been up against each other 191 times in all competitions, with the Rossoneri prevailing in 86 of these. The Biancocelesti have been the winners 40 times, while 65 games have ended in draws. A pretty clear advantage for the San Siro side, in other words.

Speaking of the San Siro, the last time this fixture was played at the stadium, Milan scored two goals and kept a clean sheet to clinch all three points. Christian Pulisic and Noah Okafor were the goalscorers on the day, with both of them coming in the second half.

The reverse fixture this season, meanwhile, ended 2-2 after a rather chaotic display.  Strahinja Pavlovic opened the scoring early on for Milan but Lazio fought their way back, scoring two goals, and Rafael Leao had to rescue the Rossoneri with a goal off the bench.

Key facts and stats

➤ Milan have avoided defeat in six of their last seven league matches against Lazio (W5 D1), with the Biancocelesti’s only victory in this period coming on 24 January 2023 (4-0 at the Olimpico).

➤ After the 2-2 draw in reverse fixture on August 31st, Milan and Lazio could draw both seasonal Serie A matches for the first time since 2013-14.

➤ Milan have avoided defeat in 33 of their last 34 home games against Lazio in Serie A (W22 D11). The only win for the Biancocelesti away against the Rossoneri in this period dates back to 3 November 2019 (2-1, with goals from Immobile and Correa).

➤ Milan have won seven of their last eight matches at the Meazza against Lazio in the league (L1), including the most recent four. Only once have the Rossoneri achieved five home successes in a row against the Biancocelesti in Serie A, doing so between December 1956 and January 1961.

➤ After the defeats against Torino and Bologna, Milan could lose three games in a row in Serie A for the first time since the period between January and February 2023; a run that began with a defeat against Lazio (0-4, 24 January 2023).

➤ Milan won their last home match in Serie A (1-0 v Hellas Verona) and could win two in a row for just the second time this term, after a run of three between September and October.

➤ Lazio have drawn their last two league matches, last recording more consecutive draws in Serie A in the period between November and December 2018 (a run of four, including a 1-1 draw against Milan on 25 November 2018 at the Olimpico).

➤ Milan are the only team in this Serie A season yet to concede a penalty goal; their last such goal conceded in the league dates back to 5 May 2024, against Genoa (Mateo Retegui).

➤ Santiago Giménez has already faced Lazio four times with previous club Feyenoord (two in the Europa League and two in the Champions League), scoring five goals in these matches (a brace at the Olimpico on 8 September 2022, a goal at home on 3 November 2022 and another brace at home on 25 October 2023). Only against PEC Zwolle (six) has he scored more goals since his arrival in Europe across all competitions

➤ Mattia Zaccagni has been directly involved in six goals in seven games in 2025 in Serie A (two goals and four assists, which the latter being the most in the league this period). Overall, only Mateo Retegui (10) has been involved in more goals than Zaccagni in the competition this year.

Ones to watch

Pulisic is expected to be back from start and due to a physical injury, he hasn’t been at his best as of late. It would be nice to see him regain top form with a good performance tomorrow, especially since Milan need him if they are to have any chance of clinching a European spot this season.

Jimenez is another one to watch, and perhaps not only in a positive sense. He really struggled on the right side of the defence against Bologna and we will need to see a much better performance this time out. Otherwise Lazio will have a fun evening at San Siro.

Photo by Marco Luzzani/Getty Images

For the away side, Romagnoli has seemingly recovered and will thus start against his old side. While he isn’t exactly the fastest defender around, we all know how good his positioning can be if he wakes up on the right side of the bed.

Zaccagni has also been in great form for the Biancocelesti, and with the aforementioned Jimenez starting on the right for Milan, the Italian could have a good time. That being said, the Spaniard is much faster so he must use that to his advantage.

Prediction

This one is incredibly difficult to call. Milan have obviously been in very poor form lately, with very few positives to take from each game. Adding the Curva Sud protest to that, one could argue Lazio should be the favourites here. On the other hand, football is never that easy and perhaps we will (finally) see a reaction from the Rossoneri.

AC Milan 1-1 Lazio