Milan vs Lazio Preview: Classic Encounter, Team News, Prediction & More

AC Milan have been like Forrest Gump's box of chocolates this season; you don't know what you're going to get. Their inconsistent season continued with a win at Caligari last weekend and come up against high flying Lazio, who sit third in Serie A as the division's highest scorers.

A victory for Gennaro Gattuso's Milan could give them hope of European qualification for next season, whilst Lazio could up the pressure on the top two if they win here. Here's all you need to know before Sunday's clash at the San Siro:

Classic Encounter

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The two had an interesting meeting on the opening day of the 2011/12 Serie A season, where Milan were defending champions. The Rossoneri's aim to retain their title didn't quite start as planned, as goals from Miroslav Klose and ex-Liverpool striker Djibril Cisse fired Lazio in a 2-0 lead at the home of the Italian champions after half an hour.

Milan responded well, and two goals in five minutes from Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Antonio Cassano levelled things up before half-time. The rest of the game was an end to end affair, with both sides having 30 shots on goal between them and some rash tackles going in as Milan begun their title defence with an entertaining 2-2 draw at the San Siro. Both sides went on to have a decent season, with Milan finishing second behind unbeaten champs Juventus whilst Lazio finished fourth, narrowly missing out on Champions League football in the process.

Team News

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Gennaro Gattuso is likely to go with nearly the same team that came from behind to beat Cagliari last weekend, but the one change he has to make is Ricardo Rodriguez, who is suspended after being sent off in that game. Fellow left-back Luca Antonelli is likely to fill in.

Lazio are without free scoring Ciro Immobile, who is out with a hamstring injury. He has 26 goals in all competitions already this season. The visitors also have four key players banned for this one; Those being Federico Marchetti, Bryan Perea, Filip Djordjevic and Christoper Oikomidis. As a result, Lazio are likely go with the same team that beat Udinese 3-0 last week, which includes former Manchester United winger Nani up front.

Potential Milan XI: Donnarumma, Calabria, Bonucci, Romagnoli, Antonelli, Kessie, Biglia, Bonaventura, Suso, Kalinic, Calhanoglu.

Potential Lazio XI: Strakosha, Wallace Santos, De Vrij, Radu, Basta, Parolo, Lucas Leiva, Milinkovic-Savic, Lukaku, Anderson, Nani.

Prediction

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Lazio may have quite a few key men suspended, but still have a very strong and versatile squad at their disposal and will prove a tough test for Gattuso's side. Milan can be very good on their day but it really is a case of which Milan decide to turn up.

Both sides need the points for similar reasons and there isn't a lot separating them. A tight score draw is a very likely result here as Milan don't have many goals in their side and Lazio's goal machine, Ciro Immobile, is out and will be a huge miss for the visitors.

Prediction: Milan 1 - 1 Lazio