Serie A Preview- A.C Milan vs. Lazio: will Cisse outshine Ibrahimovic in the opener?
The 2011/12 Serie A season will kick-start with a mouth-watering contest between Champions, A.C Milan and last season’s fifth placed, Lazio, at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza on September 9, 2011 (19:45 GMT).
Both teams have made decent inroads in the transfer market during the summer and are on course to better their last season’s performances. Milan have had a wonderful pre-season campaign and have already won the Italian Super Cup
by beating bitter rivals, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Lazio-c39775 had a brilliant start to their 2011/12 UEFA Europa League campaign and stormed to the group stages after beating Macedonian side, Rabotnicki 9-1 on aggregate score.
A.C Milan
The Rossoneri have traditionally been strong starters in the Serie A and have lost only one opening fixture in the last 28 years. Milan will look to begin the defence of their title by collecting all three points in the game and
will also look to find some form to prepare for an important UEFA Champions League clash against Spanish Champions, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Barcelona-c38604 next week.
The two teams played a stalemate in both fixtures of the last campaign with the San Siro fixture finishing goalless.
Lazio
Edy Reja’s team continuously challenged for a top four finish last season but missed out on Champions League spot after a slump in form towards the latter part of the season. The Biancazzurri will be looking to start the season
strongly to continue their push for European football from the start.
Lazio had one of the best defence in the 2010/11 season and managed to keep 14 clean sheets. The Biancocelesti have strengthened their problematic strike department from last season and have added strikers, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Miroslav-Klose-c26049 and Djibril
Cisse to the squad during the summer.
Team news
A.C Milan
The Italian Champions will be without several of their key players for the opening league game. New defenders, Philippe Mexes and http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Mark-van-Bommel-c24148
and http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Zlatan-Ibrahimovic-c38029, might be rested due to the Champions League game against Barcelona.
New signings, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Antonio-Nocerino-c6332 and Alberto Aquilani, are expected to make their Milan debuts.
Expected line-up: Abbiati (GK), Abate, Nesta, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Thiago-Silva-c34903, Zambrotta, Gattuso, Aquilani, Seedorf, Boateng, Pato, Ibrahimovic.
Lazio
The visitors will be without some of their crucial men for the game, as Stefan Radu, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Marius-Stankevicius-c24085 and Giuseppe Sculli are also missing through injuries. On the other hand, new goalkeeper,
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Federico-Marchetti-c13477, is suspended for the game.
Cisse is expected to partner Klose upfront with last season’s club top goal-scorer, Hernanes, playing in an attacking role.
Expected line-up: Bizzarri; Konko, Biava, Dias, Zauri; Ledesma, Brocchi; Mauri, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Hernanes-c16150, Cissè; Klose
Players to Watch
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Alberto-Aquilani-c4313 (A.C Milan)
The former A.S http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Italy-c2926. The
27-year-old was the missing link in the Rossoneri midfield as seen in the pre-seasons and can prove to be an answer to their problems.
Djibril Cisse (Lazio)
The Frenchman will be the player to watch for Lazio as the goal-scoring burden will rest on his shoulders. His form will be very important if the Biancazzurri are to perform well this season.
Prediction
It will be a thrilling encounter. It is a 50-50 game for both teams but Milan’s rich goal-scoring form gives them a slight edge to grind out a narrow win.
A.C Milan 2-1 Lazio
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