Unbeaten meets unbeaten: Lazio host AC Milan in a clash shaped by two coaches' pasts

Two undefeated sides collide

On Saturday, September 12, the Stadio Olimpico in Rome hosted the standout fixture of Serie A's fourth round: Lazio against AC Milan. Kick-off was at 18:00 local time, with the match broadcast on DAZN, also available to Sky subscribers with the Zona Dazn package.

Lazio arrived with a maximum nine points from three wins, managed by Gennaro Gattuso, a Milan legend as a player who was facing his former club. Milan, meanwhile, had seven points from two wins and a 1-1 draw against Juventus, in which they conceded a stoppage-time equaliser. Milan are coached by Ruben Amorim, formerly of Manchester United.

What the coaches said

Ahead of the match, Amorim described Lazio as a fast, aggressive side with a clear identity, praising the signing of midfielder Davide Frattesi, and said that after his experience at Manchester United, no criticism could affect him more. He also acknowledged that Luka Modric does not always press consistently, but controls the tempo of matches better than his teammates. Gattuso, for his part, thanked Amorim for his kind words before the game and urged his players to bring passion to their performance.

Line-ups and changes

Lazio lined up in a 4-3-3: Mandas; Floriani, Sutalo, Provstgaard, Tavares; Frattesi, Belahyane, Taylor; Cancellieri, Noslin, Zaccagni. The team had to make an unexpected change after defender Danilho Doekhi underwent surgery for a hand fracture, with Josip Sutalo making his debut in his place.

Milan set up in a 3-4-2-1: Maignan; Gila, De Winter, Pavlovic; Chukwueze, Modric, Rabiot, Estupinan; Loftus-Cheek, Cisse; Ramos. American forward Christian Pulisic, who had not played a single minute this season and, according to Amorim, was upset about it, did not start, though the coach had promised him some time off the bench.

Statistics and predictions

According to FotMob, Frattesi scored in all of his first three Serie A appearances for Lazio, a feat previously achieved by only three players in club history, none of whom managed to score in their fourth match either. Milan forward Alphadjo Cisse had the chance to become only the third player since the 1994-95 season to score in each of his first three away Serie A appearances for the club, having already scored against Torino and Juventus.

Historical head-to-head figures favour Milan: of 166 Serie A meetings, Lazio have lost 73, won 33, with 60 draws, though Lazio had won two of the last three meetings between the sides. Opta's supercomputer gave Milan a 42.3% chance of winning before kick-off, against 29.3% for Lazio and 28.4% for a draw. As reported by OneFootball, the match was played in a partially empty stadium amid a fan protest against club president Claudio Lotito.