Napoli vs AC Milan Preview and Prediction: McTominay Delivers a Decisive Blow
The match between Napoli and AC Milan in the Italian Super Cup will take place at 2:00 AM on December 19th. Nghe An newspapers, radio, and television will analyze the teams' form, provide football commentary, and predict the score.
Latest Napoli vs AC Milan team news
After a four-month absence due to injury, Napoli striker Romelu Lukaku has recently returned to full training and may even feature on the bench at Al-Awwal Park.
That gives Conte extra motivation, who also welcomed back Stanislav Lobotka on Sunday. However, Napoli are still missing several key players, including the midfield trio of Kevin De Bruyne, Frank Anguissa, and Billy Gilmour, along with goalkeeper Alex Meret.
During Lukaku's absence, Rasmus Hojlund led Napoli's attack and contributed to eight goals across all competitions.
On Milan's side, Christian Pulisic continues to be the most important player, especially after his decisive brace that helped his team overcome Torino recently.
Since joining Serie A two years ago, the American forward has scored 41 goals, including one against Napoli in September, and provided 22 assists.
With Santiago Gimenez still sidelined due to an ankle injury, Pulisic is likely to partner with either Christopher Nkunku or Rafael Leao, who missed Sunday's draw against Sassuolo as a precaution.
Additionally, Koni De Winter may be given a rare opportunity at center back, as Matteo Gabbia did not travel with the team to Saudi Arabia due to a minor knee problem.
Latest predicted lineups for Napoli vs AC Milan
Napoli:
Milinkovic-Savic; Beukema, Rrahmani, Buongiorno; Di Lorenzo, Lobotka, McTominay, Gutierrez; Lang, Neres; Hojlund
AC Milan:
Maignan; De Winter, Tomori, Pavlovic; Saelemaekers, Loftus-Cheek, Modric, Rabiot, Bartesaghi; Pulisic, Nkunku
Latest Napoli vs AC Milan football match prediction
After winning their fourth Italian league title last season, Napoli are aiming for their third Supercoppa title in history, following their victories in 1990 and 2014.
However, they arrived in Saudi Arabia for the four-team tournament having just suffered two consecutive defeats in Serie A and the Champions League.
Ending a run of five consecutive wins in all competitions, the Naples team lost to Benfica last week, before suffering another defeat with a 0-1 loss to Udinese on Sunday.
Having posed virtually no significant threat in either of those matches, these results extend Napoli's poor away form, as they have lost seven away games since the start of the season. In contrast, the team previously completed an entire calendar year unbeaten at the Stadio Maradona.
To date, six of their eight Serie A defeats under Antonio Conte have come outside Naples, including all four losses this season, so their performance in Riyadh remains questionable.
Currently one point and one place behind their semi-final rivals, and two points behind league leaders Inter, Napoli have a balanced head-to-head record against Milan in their last 20 encounters, with each team winning seven times.
In the last eight encounters between the two clubs, Milan have only lost in Serie A matches last season. Notably, the Rossoneri won when the two teams met at San Siro two months ago, as well as in the 2023 Champions League quarter-finals.
Despite only qualifying for this year's Supercoppa as runners-up in the German Cup, Milan are the reigning champions, having defeated Inter to win the title in January.
If they win again, they will equal Juventus' record of nine Super Cup titles, but Milan first need to overcome Napoli to reach the final.
Like their Campania rivals, Milan have also shown signs of slowing down in recent weeks, having been eliminated from the Coppa Italia, followed by a hard-fought win against Torino and a draw against Sassuolo in Serie A.
In their most recent match, Max Allegri's team came from behind to take a 2-1 lead, thanks to a surprising brace from young full-back Davide Bartesaghi, but ultimately only managed to secure one point.
After keeping six clean sheets at the start of the season, Milan only managed four more clean sheets in their next 12 games, and frequently conceded goals against weaker opponents.
Nevertheless, with the backing of Allegri's extensive experience and veteran playmaker Luka Modric, Milan are still closely pursuing the fierce Scudetto race and maintaining an unbeaten record away from home.
Latest Napoli vs AC Milan score prediction
Based on the above football analysis, we and leading football websites worldwide have provided our predictions for the match.Napoli vs AC Milanas follows:
- Sportsmole:Napoli 0-1 AC Milan
- WhoScore:Napoli 1-3 AC Milan
- We predict:Napoli 0-1 AC Milan
When and where can I watch Napoli vs AC Milan live?
To watch the Napoli vs AC Milan match live in the Italian Super Cup, taking place at 2:00 AM on December 19th, viewers can tune in to the following channels:K+ Sport,K+PMor online sports channels. We hope you enjoy watching football.
