With festive season rapidly approaching, teams in a selection of the European leagues know that a winter break will follow. However, there are still plenty of fixtures and AC Milan host Torino on Sunday evening.

STATS

• AC Milan have enjoyed a decent season so far and looked destined for a place back in the Champions League after a long spell in the Europa League. They are currently 4^th in the table but have a game-in-hand on the sides around them so can close the gap on the top three. They’ve won four of their last six in the league but a loss against Juventus followed by a draw with Lazio saw them lose ground on their rivals.
• Torino will be impressed with their progress so far this term as they sit 6^th in the Serie A table and like Milan, they have the benefit of a game-in-hand. They’ve lost just one of their last nine league games, a run which has taken them into the European places. On their last outing, they secured their place in the Coppa Italia fifth round after beating Genoa in the league.
• Gonzalo Higuain is AC Milan’s leading scorer in Serie A with five goals but it is Suso who has been their best player with four goals and eight assists.
• Andrea Belotti is once again Torino’s top scorer but with five goals, he’ll be hoping to add more before the winter break.

HEAD TO HEAD

Torino’s record against AC Milan is awful as they have never beaten them in the league. In their 18 league meetings, eight of them have been won by Milan while the other 10 ended as draws. None of the last three matches have had a winner and the most recent finished 1-1 as Lorenzo De Silvestri equalised late for Torino before getting sent off in added time. Both teams have scored in four of the last six meetings but with Torino’s games seeing the least goals inside the top eight, that might not be an eventuality on Sunday.

AC MILAN NEWS

The hosts can go within a point of their city rivals in 3^rd with a win but they have a lot of players out injured. Alessio Romagnoli, Mateo Musacchio, Lucas Biglia Giacomo Bonaventura are their most high-profile absentees.

Latest matches: AC Milan

02.12.2018	Seri	AC Milan	Parma FC	2:1	W
29.11.2018	UEFA	AC Milan	F91 Dudelange	5:2	W
25.11.2018	Seri	Lazio Roma	AC Milan	1:1	D
11.11.2018	Seri	AC Milan	Juventus Turin	0:2	L
08.11.2018	UEFA	Betis Sevilla	AC Milan	1:1	D

TORINO NEWS

Torino can’t move up in the table with three points but they can close the gap on Lazio to just one point. With no injury worries, they will go into the match full of confidence.

Latest matches: Turin FC

06.12.2018	Copp	Turin FC	FC Sudtirol	2:0	W
02.12.2018	Seri	Turin FC	Genoa FC	2:1	W
26.11.2018	Seri	Cagliari Calcio	Turin FC	0:0	D
10.11.2018	Seri	Turin FC	Parma FC	1:2	L
04.11.2018	Seri	Sampdoria Genoa	Turin FC	1:4	W

SUMMARY

Even with a whole host of injuries, AC Milan still head into this match as favourites to come away with all three points. It’s tough to choose a bet involving as the two sides have fluctuated in the way they have scored and conceded, therefore, backing a Milan clean sheet seems to be good value.