AC MILAN v HELLAS VERONA: OPPONENT REVIEW

Following Tuesday's goalless draw against Newcastle, AC Milan’s focus returns to the Serie A, hosting Verona on Saturday 23 September at 15:00 at San Siro, hoping to return immediately to victory and relaunch our ambitions at the top of the table. A game that will be full of challenges: Marco Baroni's team have remained unbeaten in three of their four matches this season (2W, 1D), winning seven points, only two fewer than the Rossoneri. Particularly of note is the fact that Hellas have won two of their last five Serie A away games (3D), as many victories as they managed in their previous 24 away matches in Serie A (11D, 11L). 

Moreover, a win at San Siro would mean the Gialloblù could win three of their first five matches in a season for the first time since the 1984/85 season (4W, 1D in that case). On the other hand, the Rossoneri hope to continue their streak of positive results at home (one defeat in the last 16 meetings at home in the league - 11W, 4D), which has seen the Rossoneri score at least three goals in each of the last three league matches at home (12 in total for an average of four per game). The Milanese team could equal the four-match streak of at least three goals scored in home games for the first time since November 2011 (back when Massimiliano Allegri sat on the Rossonero bench). 

HELLAS VERONA: DUELS AND COUNTERATTACKS, THE KEYS TO UNDERSTANDING BARONI'S TEAM
How could Marco Baroni cause a headache for the Rossonero rearguard? So far this season, the Scaligera team have completed 137 long passes, fewer than only Fiorentina (191), highlighting the importance of verticality and aerial balls to the Gialloblù's offensive manoeuvres. Hellas are therefore also the team to have made the most headers in the competition (42, 14 of which from centre-forward Milan Đurić, who is leading the way in the 2023/24 Serie A in this regard). Verona have been happy to let their opponents keep the ball in their opening matches against Empoli, Roma, Sassuolo and Bologna: only three teams have had less average possession in the first four matches of the campaign (43.5%). 

In addition to these characteristics, the Gialloblù have proven to be very combative in winning the ball back, winning the most aerial duels (84) and are third overall, for duels won (211) after Roma (224) and Lecce (219). The statistics aren't all positive, however; in these early stages of the tournament, the Veneto team have struggled enormously to manage the ball: Verona have completed the lowest percentage of passes among teams currently in the top ten of the Italian league (75.7%) and, more specifically, they have completed the fewest passes in the opponent's half of the field (416) after only Genoa (384).

THE BONAZZOLI-NGONGE DUO WITH THE EXPERIENCE OF DUDA
There are essentially two players who Verona's goal-scoring fortunes depend on and those are who the Rossoneri rearguard will have to watch out for: the two strikers Federico Bonazzoli and Cyril Ngonge. The 26-year-old has already scored in the Serie A this season and has scored two goals against AC Milan previously in Serie A, both in a Salernitana shirt and both in home games. Bonazzoli has only scored more against Cagliari (three) in the top division. Furthermore, only teammate Ngonge (seven) has shot more than the former Salernitana player (six). The Belgian striker has scored seven goals in his 19 appearances since his arrival in Serie A (January 2023), at least three more than any other Gialloblù player in this period. 

In addition to those two, another element of the Verona club has come to the fore in these first four matches of the championship: Ondrej Duda. The Slovakian national, as well as being the only Verona player to both score and provide an assist in Serie A 2023/24 (both against Roma on day two), has won the ball back the most for Hellas so far (22). These are the strengths of this Verona side, the three aces up Baroni's sleeve capable of changing the face of a game for the underdogs. 

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