Coppa Italia: Milan Face Sampdoria In Round Of 16

AC Milan will be on the pitch again on Thursday night after defeating Crotone 3-1 in Round 4 of the Coppa Italia, and will face Sampdoria in the Round of 16 at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris. During their last meeting in Serie A action on November 28, the Rossoneri smashed Sampdoria in a 4-1 rout. The Blucerchiati will surely attempt to exact their revenge today and take advantage of playing on home turf. However, given that Genoa surprisingly lost to Alessandria (a Lega Pro team) on Tuesday afternoon, despite playing at home, perhaps they shouldn't underestimate the "Curse of the Stadio Luigi Ferraris" that seems to haunt the Coppa Italia.

Despite being a midweek match, both managers are not expected make a lot of changes in their starting lineups -proof of the importance to both teams of a continued adventure in the Coppa Italia. Siniša Mihajlović will send out  Christian Abbiati instead of Gianluigi Donnarumma, and as usual, Philippe Mexès over Alex. We can expect a new duo at midfield with Juraj Kucka and Andrea Bertolacci, while Carlos Bacca and Luiz Adriano should start again at forward. Vincenzo Montella is likely to stick with his usual starting XI, except for Luis Muriel, who's replacing the injured Éder.

Projected Starting Lineups

Milan (4-4-2): Abbiati; Abate, Mexès, Romagnoli, De Sciglio; Niang, Kucka, Bertolacci, Bonaventura; Luiz Adriano, Bacca.

Sampdoria (4-3-3): Viviano; De Silvestri, Moisander, Zukanovic, Regini; Edgar Barreto, Fernando, Soriano; Carbonero, Cassano, Muriel.