AC Milan Travels To SPAL Seeking Top 4 Serie A Finish

With a berth in the Champions League on the line and the Serie A schedule down to it’s final day this is a big game for AC Milan. It’s also a tricky game as they travel to the Stadio Paolo Mazza in Ferrara to take on Società Polisportiva Ars et Labor a mid table opponent that is thankfully almost always abbreviated as SPAL. Once you get below the top two teams in Serie A (Juventus and Napoli) it’s quite a logjam. Atalanta and Inter Milan are tied for third and fourth with 66 points. AC Milan is up next with 65 points and just two points back is AS Roma with 63 points. AC Milan will participate in European Cup play next year regardless but there’s a huge difference between a Champions League berth and having to go through the qualifying process for Europa League play.

SPAL is currently in 11th place on the table with 42 points and depending how things shake out this weekend could finish as high as 10th. On the other hand, they could slip several spots with five teams within two points. SPAL’s recent form has not been anything special as they’ve lost two straight, both by a single goal to Napoli and Sassuolo. Prior to that slump they had played their best football of the year winning six of eight including wins against Juventus, Roma and Lazio. Another problem for SPAL has been their anemic play at the Stadio Paolo Mazza where they’ve got 5 wins 7 draws and 6 defeats scoring 18 goals and given up 23. They’re 1-1-1 in their last three home fixtures having scored and conceded 4 goals therein.

AC Milan’s road play hasn’t been anything exceptional either with a record of 6 wins 7 draws and 5 defeats. At least they have a positive goal differential away from the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza aka San Siro. In their last 3 away games they’ve gone 1-1-1 scoring twice and conceding three goals in those contests. AC Milan walloped SPAL on this field last year by a margin of 4-0 but the previous meeting was much closer with AC Milan prevailing 2-1 at the San Siro in December 2018. AC Milan will have the best offensive weapon on the field with Polish forward Krzysztof Piatek. Piatek had gone six games without a goal but scored last time in the 2-0 win over Frosinone. That gave Piatek 22 goals on the season and while it’s unlikely that he could run down Sampdoria’s Fabio Quagliarella (26) for the Serie A scoring title a goal or two could give him sole possession of second. Looking at the Serie A betting odds, the total looks a tad high so we’ll back the more focused AC Milan side.

BET AC MILAN -1 -118 OVER SPAL

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