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Napoli favorites at San Siro

Even though Napoli hasn't beaten Milan at San Siro for 27 years, Benitez's team seems unstoppable and has a big chance to end the negative record against the depleted Allegri's team.

Milan's results are much better than the impression the team has left so far. Allegri's first aim was to qualify for Champions League, which he did by beating PSV. He even managed to beat Celtic at San Siro on Wednesday even though his team's performance wasn't spectacular. Far from it. Celtic was very dangerous on the counter attacks and set pieces. In Serie A, Milan stuttered in both away matches, while they rallied past Cagliari at home. Last week Milan scraped a lucky draw against Torino when Balotelli scored a last-gasp penalty.

Allegri claims he didn't expect them to have a better start:
- No, I didn’t expect us to have a better start to the season, as the important thing is we end the games running hard. We are missing the points from our game with Verona and they earned them. We have to chase the others, but there’s a long way to go.

Allegri commented on their next opponents:
- Higuain is diabolical, as he seems to vanish out of matches, but in truth he’s always present. Marek Hamsik is confirming his status in Europe and Jose Maria Callejon is international level as well as Insigne. It's going to be a nice game, and the only reason Napoli are considered favourites is because they have nine points and we have four. We'll manage to come away with points even if Napoli are playing good football and they have a good collective. Rafa Benitez has done well, as it was difficult to change the side after so many years to adopt a 4-4-2 system.

The injury crisis has still ruled out defenders Bonera, Silvestre and De Sciglio, playmakers Kaka and Montolivo and strikers Stephan El Shaarawy and Pazzini. They will all remain out for over three weeks, and Milan has many games lying ahead. Robinho and Birsa are trying to seize the playmaking role, and after recovering from injury, Poli is making his comeback to the team. Balotelli and Matri will take two positions in the attack and young Niang will wait from the bench.

After a fantastic last season under Mazzari and coming second after Juventus, Napoli's president De Laurentis decided to make some big changes. And if we can judge from the start of the season, then it was the right decision to release Mazzari and goalscorer Cavani since new manager Benitez is enjoying his brilliant start to the season and the players he brought in, like Higuain, Callejon, Reina and Raul Albiol seem as if they've been together in Naples for years. After three convincing wins in Serie A, Napoli snatched a win in Champions League and they did so against the last year's finalists, Borussia Dortmund. That was a trigger for a complete euphoria in Naples.

Benitez doesn't care if Napoli are favorites in Milan:
- It doesn’t matter if people say we are favourites, as others would suggest Milan are the favourites, but either way it won’t change the game. Milan are a side with a great attacking mentality and players who can make the difference. Mario Balotelli and Gonzalo Higuain are both excellent forwards of a very high level. I’m satisfied with Gonzalo, just as Milan are with Balotelli, but I think this clash will be decided by the collective and not individual. Eight points ahead of Milan wouldn't mean that much as they still have time to bounce back.

Playing against Milan has a special meaning for Benitez as they are his old rivals from the time he coached Liverpool and Inter:
- This is a very special game as I played two Champions League Finals and a derby against them. Napoli hasn't beaten Milan at San Siro for 27 years? It doesn't mean anything except that Milan has been a top team for years. I'm glad to be back at such an important stadium as San Siro.

Benitez doesn't have injury woes, and Uvini, Radosevic and Bariti didn't make the 22-man squad. Napoli probably won't rotate the squad which means that Gonzalo Higuain will play up front, alongside Callejon, Hamsik and Insigne.

The match is played at San Siro and there Milan, "by default", doesn't lose it's matches against Napoli, but at this moment to make them favorites for this one would be crazy thing to do. The Milan team is playing well this season but has huge problems with injuries in key positions. Key playmakers Kaka and Montolivo are out, as well as important strikers El Shaarawy and Pazzini, center back Bonera and great young fullback De Scigli. In addition to that, they are playing every three days and their performance is unconvincing. They scraped a point against Torino, and against Celtic they managed to take the full pray with a lot of luck. On the other hand Napoli plays some great football under Benitez, solid in the defense and quick and swift in the offense. It's difficoult to say who is more dangerous in their attack; Higuain as poacher, or very dangerous Callejon, Hamsik or Insigne who are behind him (Higuain). Napoli has achieved all victories so far, and even though they played against Borussia Dortmund against who they have poor record, they managed to win that one, and it wouldn't be surprising if they achieve a victory today in Milano.