Sinisa Mihajlovic will take his Sampdoria side to AC Milan this weekend in the hope of picking up three crucial points at San Siro.
The Blucerchiati have exceeded expectations in Serie A this season and they are still in the hunt for a Champions League place, while Milan look set to end the campaign languishing in mid-table.
AC Milan
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Just four seasons ago Milan were on their way to winning an 18th Serie A title, with the likes of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Thiago Silva among their ranks.
Those glory days seem a distant memory now though, as they have struggled to rediscover their best form and look set to go a second season without European football. They are currently eighth in the league table and it would take a massive turnaround in form for them to secure even a top-five finish.
A lack of investment in the playing squad and uncertainty surrounding the future of manager Filippo Inzaghi have not helped, and fans have boycotted recent games in protest at the way that the club is being run.
The Rossoneri have been hugely inconsistent this season, but they will come into Sunday's match after winning their previous two league games. They were 3-1 winners over Cagliari just before the international break and they left it late to claim a 2-1 victory at Palermo last Sunday.
Jeremy Menez scored the winner against the Sicilians and he has been one of Milan's few bright sparks this season. The 27-year-old joined the club on a free transfer from Paris Saint-Germain and he has fired in 16 league goals, with only Carlos Tevez ahead of him in the scoring charts.
Recent form: WDDLWW
Sampdoria
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Milan may have struggled in recent months, but it has been a very different story for Sampdoria. The Blucerchiati were tipped by many people to be the surprise package this season and they have certainly delivered.
With nine games left to play, they are currently fifth in the table and seven points behind Lazio, who occupy the final Champions League qualifying spot. Due to the form of the Rome club it's hard to see them dropping many points, so securing a Europa League spot must be the main priority for Mihajlovic.
The former Inter Milan player has been a revelation since his arrival at the club last season and in recent weeks he has even been linked with a summer move to Milan.
Only league leaders Juventus and Lazio have picked up more points in the past six weeks than Sampdoria, and a four-game winning run in March, including victories over Roma and Inter Milan, has made people stand up and take note. Despite their good form, they suffered a major blow last weekend by slipping to a 2-0 defeat against Fiorentina.
Even if the club do manage to qualify for Europe at the end of the season, some of their best players could be heading towards the exit doors. Eder and Roberto Soriano are just of the two players who have been linked with a switch and their price tags will have gone up considerably in recent months due to call-ups to the Italy squad.
Recent form: DWWWWL
Team News
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Giacomo Bonaventura and Marco Van Ginkel have both struggled with knocks in the past week, but they are expected to be fit for this weekend.
Stephan El Shaarawy is still out with a foot injury he picked up in January, while a hamstring problem has ruled Keisuke Honda out for the foreseeable future.
Those injuries mean that Alessio Cerci should retain his place up front, with Mattia Destro and Menez likely to complete the attack.
Sampdoria are without the suspended Vasco Regini, so Djamel Mesbah could take his spot in the back four, while Lorenzo De Silvestri should shake off a knock to start.
AC Milan possible starting lineup:
Lopez, Abate, Paletta, Mexes, Antonelli, Van Ginkel, De Jong, Bonaventura, Cerci, Destro, Menez
Sampdoria possible starting lineup:
Viviano, De Silvestri, Silvestre, Romagnoli, Mesbah, Obiang, Palombo, Soriano, Muriel, Eto'o, Eder
Head To Head
It was a four-goal thriller in this season's reverse fixture, as Milan came from behind to earn a 2-2 draw at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris.
The Rossoneri have tended to dominate this fixture in recent seasons and they have lost just one of the previous eight meetings between the clubs.
This weekend's match will be the third time that Sampdoria have visited San Siro this season, but on their previous two trips they were beaten by Inter Milan.
We say: AC Milan 1-1 Sampdoria
Milan will be buoyed by their recent victories, but Sampdoria will also be confident of getting a result after four wins in their last five games. The pressure of playing at home in front of their disgruntled fans may count against the Rossoneri, so we think that this game will end in a draw.
Alex Meyers
