Preview: AC Milan vs Torino - prediction, team news, lineups

Having seen their slim Scudetto hopes take a major hit last weekend, AC Milan must focus on wrapping up second spot in Serie A when they host Torino on Saturday evening.

Now vying with Napoli to finish runners-up behind likely champions Inter Milan, the Rossoneri's 1-0 loss to Lazio surely ended their title dreams.

Match preview

Just when derby success seemed to re-open this season's Scudetto race, with Milan's deficit to Inter being trimmed to seven points, the Rossoneri then slipped up at Stadio Olimpico.

After their city rivals had been held to a 1-1 draw by Atalanta, Max Allegri's men travelled to Rome for a crucial Sunday night meeting with mid-table Lazio.

However, Milan ended up empty handed, suffering their first Serie A away defeat of the season, three months after Lazio had knocked them out of the Coppa Italia at the same venue.

So, a 24-game unbeaten streak in the league has since been followed by two defeats from four matches, and such slips could prove costly at an important point of the campaign.

Champions League qualification is not yet assured and Napoli are now back in the race for second place, so Milan must avoid sustaining consecutive league losses for the first time in 12 months.

Precedent suggests that should not be an issue this weekend, as the Rossoneri's last top-flight defeat to Torino at San Siro came back in 1985.

Since then, Toro have tried and failed 29 times to topple their Milanese counterparts in the second city, losing no fewer than 20 games along the way.

Despite racing into a two-goal lead in the teams' most recent meeting - which took place in Turin last December - the Granata were also beaten on that occasion, somehow contriving to lose 3-2.

Having lost nearly half of their league fixtures this season, Torino also hold Serie A's second-worst defensive record, and they have claimed just one point from their last five away games.

Nonetheless, the recent arrival of interim coach Roberto D'Aversa has had a significant impact: Toro beat Parma 4-1 last weekend, with three second-half strikes pulling them further clear of the drop zone.

D'Aversa has been tasked with keeping the Granata afloat, and his side have claimed six points from three outings so far - but putting a halt to their dismal road form may prove a much tougher task.

Across all competitions, they have conceded 15 goals in their last five away fixtures, so another meeting with Milan could cause some concern.

AC Milan Serie A form:

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Torino Serie A form:

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Team News

Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Matteo Gabbia are still sidelined for Milan, while Santiago Gimenez is unlikely to feature after his recent return from a four-month layoff.

More positively, Allegri will be pleased to welcome back Adrien Rabiot, who served a suspension during the defeat to Lazio; he should come straight into a midfield trio run by evergreen playmaker Luka Modric.

Despite turning 40, Modric has played more minutes (2,366) than any other Rossoneri outfielder in Serie A this season - already his highest league tally for five years.

Once again, the hosts have four men vying to start up front: Christopher Nkunku, Niclas Fullkrug, Rafael Leao and Christian Pulisic are all in contention for two forward places.

The latter pair publicly fell out last week, amid a collective spell of indifferent form, but Pulisic did score twice against Torino in December.

Toro captain Duvan Zapata was also on target in the reverse fixture, taking his career tally to eight top-flight goals versus Milan.

Furthermore, the veteran striker came off the bench to score against Parma last weekend, so he will hope to supplant either Che Adams or Giovanni Simeone at San Siro.

Only Zakaria Aboukhlal's presence is in some doubt, as the Moroccan winger has missed four games due to two separate injuries, most recently suffering from a knee problem.

AC Milan possible starting lineup:

Maignan; Tomori, De Winter, Pavlovic; Saelemaekers, Fofana, Modric, Rabiot, Bartesaghi; Pulisic, Leao

Torino possible starting lineup:

Paleari; Coco, Ismajli, Ebosse; Pedersen, Gineitis, Ilkhan, Vlasic, Obrador; Adams, Simeone