Serie A preview: Torino vs. AC Milan – Team news, opposition insight, stats and prediction
AC Milan will start their 2026-27 campaign with a challenging away trip to Torino, facing their former player Ignazio Abate.
Serie A is back! While the first games took place already today (Saturday), Milan fans will have to wait a little longer as the Rossoneri’s opener is scheduled for Sunday evening. Torino are the opponents and historically speaking, this is a very difficult fixture.
Ruben Amorim provided some really good answers in his pre-match press conference, admitting that Milan won’t be a perfect product in their first game. The key, as he explained, is to work as a team to clinch all three points rather than to focus on tactical tweaks.
Game date: Sunday, August 22 Kick-off time: 20:45 (CEST) Venue: Stadio Olimpico Grande Torino Referee: Luca Zufferli (VAR: Mazzoleni)
Team news
Compared to the pre-season, the situation is actually improved for Amorim as the likes of Christian Pulisic and Matteo Gabbia have recovered from their respective injuries. Furthermore, the new signing Diego Moreira has been added to the squad.
There will be one absence, though, and that is Rafael Leao. The No.10 still hasn’t recovered from his muscle discomfort and it’s not certain that he will be back for the second round either. Meanwhile, Milan are still working on an exit for him with the agent Jorge Mendes.
Of course, we would be remiss not to mention Fikayo Tomori, Youssouf Fofana, Santiago Gimenez and Christopher Nkunku, who have all been excluded from the squad due to transfer reasons. That decision was made by Amorim, so he clearly doesn’t rate these players.
As for the expected starting eleven, Amorim is looking to build on the win against Man Utd, even if a few tweaks are expected. The aforementioned Gabbia should reclaim the spot in the heart of the defence, sending Koni De Winter to the bench.
Mario Gila is also ready to start, having come off the bench against the Red Devils, so we could pretty much be looking at the first-choice defensive trio tomorrow. Especially since it’s been reported that Milan might not sign another centre-back after all.
In midfield, nothing should change as Samuel Chukwueze will keep his wing-back role, while Yunus Musah remains ahead of Ardon Jashari for the spot next to Luka Modric. The fact that Pervis Estupinan might be getting another start perhaps raises a few eyebrows, with Davide Bartesaghi on the bench.
Up front, the theme is the same as the midfield: nothing should change. Amorim is really fond of both Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Alphadjo Cisse, keeping them in the attacking midfield role, while fielding Goncalo Ramos as the striker is a no-brainer given the €74m price tag.
While Amorim would still like one or two reinforcements to complete the squad, he will be able to rely on the likes of Moreira, Pulisic, Alexis Saelemaekers, and Francesco Camarda (to name a few) off the bench. In short, there is quality beyond the starting eleven.
Predicted Milan XI (3-4-2-1): Maignan; Gila, Gabbia, Pavlovic; Chukwueze, Modric, Musah, Estupinan; Loftus-Cheek, Cisse; Ramos.
Predicted bench: P. Terracciano, Torriani, F. Terracciano, De Winter, Diawara, Bartesaghi, Moreira, Ricci, Comotto, Jashari, Rabiot, Saelemaekers, Pulisic, Camarda.
Injuries & suspensions: Leao.
The opponents
Torino secured a respectable 12th-place finish in the 2025-26 season under the guidance of Marco Baroni (sacked in February) and then Roberto D’Aversa. However, it’s clear that they are looking for more than that, given the history of the club.
Indeed, looking at the last seven seasons, they have only managed to break into the top ten once. They haven’t been far away from the relegation zone either a few times, all the while it felt like they were losing a bit of identity.
This summer’s appointment of Milan’s former Primavera manager, as such, wasn’t at all surprising to me. Abate has done a brilliant job in just five years as a coach, delivering at the top end of both Serie C and Serie B, relying on an attractive style of football as well.
It feels like Torino want to find their way back to the European places, or at least get closer to them, while developing players to increase the cash income. Coming from his experience with Milan’s academy, you could argue that Abate is the perfect man for that job.
Of course, it’s still a pretty big gamble as this is the 39-year-old’s first coaching gig in the top tier. The pressure is much higher, especially since the fanbase has been rather critical of the club lately, but at least they started with a win.
Carrarese Calcio were beaten 1-0 in the Coppa Italia Round of 32, but looking at the chances from that game, they should have scored more. Anyway, as for the squad at Abate’s disposal, the likes of Pietro Comuzzo, Marcus Pedersen, Cesare Casadei, Nikola Vlasic, and Giovanni Simeone stand out.
There are a few more interesting names in the squad, so Abate will definitely have some players to develop throughout the course of the season. It’s worth noting that the strikers Duvan Zapata and Pietro Pellegri (former Milan man) will miss the game due to injury, as will the goalkeeper Franco Israel.
In his press conference for the game, Abate said that the best way to show his appreciation for Milan is to give them a hard time, as they taught him to ‘be hungry and ambitious’.
Predicted Torino XI (3-4-2-1): Mascardi; Coco, Ismajli, Comuzzo; Pedersen, Gineitis, Fitz-Jim, Cacciamani; Vlasic, Njie; Simeone.
Predicted bench: Paleari, Siviero, Pellini, Carrascosa, Luongo, Ilkhan, Ilic, Biraghi, Casadei, Kulenovic, Aboukhlal, Adams, Gabellini, Oristanio.
Injuries & suspensions: Anjorin, Israel, Pellegri and Zapata.
Head to head
AC Milan and Torino have faced each other 202 times, with the Rossoneri prevailing in 79 of these, while Il Toro are slightly behind with 56 wins. A high percentage of the games have thus ended in draws, more specifically 67 of them.
The record has been pretty even in recent times, but if you only look at the away fixture, the story is completely different. In the last 13 years, Milan have won just twice (!) at Stadio Olimpico (6D, 5L), almost warranting the term ‘boogey team’ for Torino.
That said, one of those two wins came in the most recent meeting at the stadium. Adrien Rabiot and Christian Pulisic helped secure a comeback win for the Rossoneri, who were two goals down but managed to turn things around.
Key facts and stats
➤ Milan have won their last two Serie A matches against Torino, as many as in their previous seven (D2 L3). Furthermore, in their last six meetings in the tournament, a total of 26 goals have been scored (4.3 on average per match), after at least one side had failed to score in six of the previous seven matches (2.2 on average).
➤ Torino are unbeaten in 11 of their last 13 Serie A home games against AC Milan (W5 D6). However, the Granata lost their last home match against the Rossoneri in the competition (2-3 in December 2025) and could suffer back-to-back defeats at the hands of the Rossoneri in front of their fans for the first time in the competition since 2007 and 2008 (excluding forfeit defeats).
➤ Torino have won only one of their nine Serie A season-opening matches against the two Milanese teams (Inter and Milan), the first ever, on 17 September 1939, at the Filadelfia stadium, a 2-1 victory against the Rossoneri thanks to goals from Libero Marchini and Walter Petron.
➤ Ruben Amorim could become the first foreign coach to win the opening match of the Serie A season at the helm of AC Milan since Leonardo, on 22 August 2009, against Siena, also away (2-1 for the Rossoneri).
➤ Torino are unbeaten in their last six Serie A home games (i.e., in the six home games under Roberto D’Aversa). During this period, the Granata have scored at least two goals per match (14 in total for an average of 2.3 per game) and collected 14 points (4W, 2D): as many as they combined in all of their previous 13 home games last season (4W, 2D, 7L).
➤ After remaining unbeaten in 24 consecutive Serie A matches (W15 D9), Milan have lost seven of their last 13 matches (W5 D1) of the tournament (54%). In that period (since matchday 26), only Pisa (12), Hellas Verona and Cremonese (nine each) have suffered more defeats than the Rossoneri (seven, like Lecce) in the top flight.
➤ AC Milan scored the most goals from penalties in Serie A 2025/26, having converted seven of nine. Furthermore, in the previous five seasons of the tournament, the Rossoneri had only scored more goals from the spot in 2020/21 (15 in that case).
➤ Torino was the only team in Serie A 2025/26 not to have conceded a goal from a direct or indirect free kick and one of three in the top five European tournaments to have done so, along with Stuttgart (in the Bundesliga) and Angers (in Ligue 1).
➤ With his 11 goals last season for Torino, Giovanni Simeone became only the third player to reach double figures in goals in a season with at least five different clubs in Serie A history, after Enrico Chiesa (five) and Alberto Gilardino (six). Simeone scored 17 goals for Hellas Verona in 2021/22, 14 for Fiorentina in 2017/18, 12 for Cagliari in 2019/20, 12 for Genoa in 2016/17, and 11 for Torino in 2025/26.
➤ In his three seasons with PSG (from 2023/24 to 2025/26), Gonçalo Ramos (45 goals) recorded the best minutes/goal average among Ligue 1 players with a club in all competitions: one goal every 120 minutes on average (min. 50 games).
Ones to watch
Considering the number of changes this summer, there are definitely more than two Milan players that I will keep an eye on. However, gun to my head, I would definitely say that Goncalo Ramos is the most interesting one. After all, we are still yearning for a No.9 who can bang in the goals.
The Portuguese international definitely showed his quality in the friendly against Man Utd, not only getting a brilliant assist but also a goal, finding the back of the net with a great header. Let’s hope for some more of that tomorrow.
In midfield, Luka Modric renewed his contract and he will continue to be a crucial player for Milan. That was clear already in the friendlies, commanding the play as soon as he stepped onto the pitch, and he showed that he’s still got it with some nice flicks and smart movement.
Moving on to Torino, I’m intrigued by the young centre-back Pietro Comuzzo, who was linked to Milan not that long ago. He was secured on loan with an option to buy this summer following a slowdown in his growth, but perhaps he can continue his development under Abate’s guidance.
Another player that I’m quite fond of is Marcus Pedersen. He always works incredibly hard and has a very good cross on him too, so Milan should be careful with his runs down the right-hand side. He got an assist in Torino’s last game too.
Prediction
Given the history of the fixture, I’m not exactly filled with confidence. It’s a bit silly to rely on stats from previous seasons when so much has changed, but it’s a trend that is hard to ignore since it has been going on for so long.
That said, I do think that Milan will be able to overcome their recent season opener struggles (one draw and one defeat), bouncing back with a win. We are talking about two managers who want to play attractive football and when it comes down to it, the Rossoneri have more quality.
Torino 1-2 Milan
