AC Milan will be looking to continue their strong end to the season when they travel to lowly Sampdoria on Wednesday evening.
Sixth-placed Milan have gone 10 games without defeat since returning to action last month, whereas Sampdoria have had a mixed time of things on the results front and are down in 15th.
Match preview
So good has the Rossoneri's form been post-lockdown that it was announced last week that boss Stefano Pioli will stay on beyond this summer.
Milan were expected to bring in Ralf Rangnick as part of a long-term restructuring, but Pioli has been rewarded for some impressive results.
Friday's 1-1 draw with Atalanta BC - Duvan Zapata cancelling out Hakan Calhanoglu's stunner in a game that did not live up to the hype - ended Milan's three-game winning streak.
Still, seven victories and three draws since the restart has transformed the Rossoneri's campaign, leaving them sixth in the table with games against Sampdoria and Cagliari to go.
Milan are already assured of a place in the Europa League second qualifying round next season and now seem unlikely to catch Roma, who are four points better off in fifth.
© Reuters
It is all about keeping the momentum going for Pioli's men, which is something Sampdoria had been building prior to back-to-back losses against Genoa and Juventus.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Federico Bernardeschi were on target in that most recent outing for Samp on Sunday, which confirmed Juve as champions for a ninth year in a row.
Before those quickfire losses, the Blucerchiati beat Udinese, Cagliari and Parma - scoring three goals in each game - to ensure that relegation is not a possibility this term.
Sampdoria can still finish as high as ninth if they win their remaining games and other results go their way, but motivation may be an issue for Claudio Ranieri.
Ranieri deserves huge praise for the work he has done at Stadio Luigi Ferraris, pretty much under the radar, and Sampdoria may yet have one more big win up their sleeve.
Sampdoria's Serie A form: LWWWLL
AC Milan's Serie A form: WDWWWD
Team News
© Reuters
Pioli was forced to rotate his side against Atalanta owing to Theo Hernandez and Ismael Bennacer being suspended, and Alessio Romagnoli and Andrea Conti being injured.
The suspended pair are back in contention on Wednesday and should slot straight back into the side in place of Diego Laxalt and Lucas Biglia.
Milan's attacking players were a little off the pace against Atalanta, but Pioli is unlikely to make mass changes in that department - if any - for this midweek clash.
As for Sampdoria, Felice D'Amico and Albin Ekdal are their two confirmed injury absentees, suffering from foot and ankle injuries respectively.
Omar Colley and Ronaldo Vieira missed the Juventus game through suspension but are in line for recalls here.
Gaston Ramirez was given the nod over Manolo Gabbiadini at the weekend, but Ranieri may bring in the latter alongside Fabio Quagliarella for this one.
AC Milan's possible starting lineup:
Donnarumma; Calabria, Kjaer, Gabbia, Hernandez; Kessie, Bennacer; Saelemaekers, Calhanoglu, Rebic; Ibrahimovic
Sampdoria possible starting lineup:
Audero; Bereszynski, Yoshida, Colley, Augello; Linetty, Thorsby, Ekdal, Jankto; Gabbiadini, Quagliarella
We say: Sampdoria 0-1 AC Milan
The sides played out an uneventful goalless draw when they last met six months ago. Milan have improved massively since then and enter this match unbeaten in seven away matches - a run that we are backing them to extend with three more points on Wednesday.
