Salernitana’s Serie A (SA) season is in dire straits after they suffered a third consecutive loss on Monday, this time a 4-1 humbling at Atalanta despite having taken an early lead. Their lowly eight points after 16 matches leaves them five points adrift of safety before this round, while only twice before has a team with as few points at this stage of the campaign gone on to survive, although one was Salernitana themselves in 2021/22.
Manager Filippo Inzaghi has standout concerns at both ends of the pitch, with his underperforming attack not being helped by a defence that has conceded in 19 successive SA matches. That spells massive trouble with the impending visit of AC Milan, a club Inzaghi played for on 300 occasions and won numerous accolades for, but also one that his current side have beaten just once in their eight H2H attempts (D2, L5).
Their task is made even more daunting considering Milan are coming off a comprehensive 3-0 win over Monza, their third win in their last four league matches (L1). That lone loss did come in their most recent assignment on the road, a highly entertaining affair against Atalanta where they fought back from a goal down twice, only to concede the decisive blow in the 95th minute and lose 3-2.
That was the Rossoneri’s third successive away SA match without a victory (D2, L1), but the real worry lies in having conceded twice on each occasion. Manager Stefano Pioli will be desperate to get his side back to winning ways, as they aim to cement their spot in third place and keep up the pressure on the top-two, Juventus and bitter rivals Inter.
Players to watch: Salernitana’s Boulaye Dia has scored nine of his last 12 SA goals after half-time, a run that started with a goal against Milan the last time these teams met. The opener that day was scored by Milan’s Olivier Giroud, one of the nine times he’s scored the game’s first goal in his last 13 goalscoring outings.
Hot stat: Salernitana have trailed at half-time a league-high ten times this season.
