Rossoneri Kick Off Serie A Season Against Torino
AC Milan vs Torino Soccer Odds Favor Hosts
First Competitive Match Under Fonseca for AC Milan
After five seasons in charge of AC Milan, and one Serie A title, Stefano Pioli departed the club after the 2023-24 season. In Paulo Fonseca’s first competitive match as AC Milan coach, the Rossoneri host Torino on Saturday in their Serie A opener.
Milan will look to compete with rivals Inter for the title this season but finished 19 points behind them a few months ago. With little margin for error this season for Milan to be in the title race, we’ll take a closer look at the AC Milan vs Torino soccer odds, which favor the hosts.
AC Milan vs Torino
Day/Time:
Location: Stadio San Siro, Milan, Italy
AC Milan vs Torino Head-to-Head:
This has not been an easy fixture for AC Milan in recent times. On the 2023-2024 Serie A schedule, AC Milan and Torino split their meetings. Torino won 3-1 at home and Milan were 4-1 victors in the reverse fixture.
The Serie A scores in this fixture have been relatively even recently, with two wins apiece and a draw in the last five meetings. In all competitions, Torino have lost just two of the last six.
Milan Preparing for Title Race
2023-24 Season:
- Serie A: 22-9-7 (2nd)
- Coppa Italia: Quarter-Finals, lost 2-1 at Atalanta
- Champions League: Third Place Group F, transfer to Europa League
- Europa League: Quarter-Finals, lost 3-1 (agg.) to Roma
AC Milan have managed four straight top four Serie A finishes. All of those seasons were under Stefano Pioli, who reestablished the Rossoneri as a perennial Champions League club. Paulo Fonseca, who spent two seasons coaching Lille, now has to carry that torch.
Ahead of the Portuguese coach’s debut season, Milan have replaced striker Olivier Giroud with Alvaro Morata. They’ve also brought in defenders Emerson Royal, Strahinja Pavlovic and Alex Jimenez.
The preseason Serie A odds list Milan at just +650 to win the league, but they have a superb frontline. Morata may not be flashy but he scores goals, while Rafael Leao, Christian Pulisic and Samuel Chukwueze will cause most teams problems.
If they can improve defensively, and most importantly, stay healthy, AC Milan have a shot to be in the title race for quite some time this campaign. In five preseason friendlies, Milan went unbeaten and expect Leao to better the nine-goal figure he put up in 2023-24.
Torino Retool Backline
2023-24 Season:
- Serie A: 13-14-11 (9th)
- Coppa Italia: Round of 32, 2-1 (a.e.t.) loss vs Frosinone
Like AC Milan, Torino had an offseason coaching change. After Ivan Juric and Torino parted ways in the offseason, they brought in former Venezia coach Paolo Vanoli. Vanoli helped Venezia return to Serie A last season and if he can improve Torino’s league position it’d be seen as a victory.
The Granata finished in 9th place in 2023-24, with the league’s fourth-best defensive record. However, key center back Alessandro Buongiorno left for Napoli this offseason and fellow defender Ricardo Rodriguez is now with Real Betis.
Torino signed Saul Coco and Adam Masina to soften those blows but they need to improve at the other end of the pitch to contend for Europe. Torino only scored 36 goals in 38 games last campaign, which was fewer than all but three teams.
Duvan Zapata scored 12 times last season and Torino will hope to get some goals out of new signing Che Adams. Zapata was already on target in Torino’s 2-0 Coppa Italia first round victory over Cosenza on Sunday and is their main man.
Match Analysis & Odds
The latest AC Milan vs Torino soccer odds price the hosts as -135 favorites. AC Milan went 12-4-3 at home in Serie A last season and have only lost one home Serie A game in 2024 so far.
Meanwhile, Torino went just 5-5-9 on the road and their games averaged a league-low 1.89 goals last season. Here, the Granata are +375 underdogs and they haven’t won a road Serie A match at AC Milan since 1985. AC Milan have won each of their last five home Serie A matches against Torino but the AC Milan vs Torino soccer odds list a draw at +270.
Olivier Giroud had four goals in his three home games versus Torino and Milan will need Morata to fill that void.
Regardless, under 2.5 goals show -125 odds in what’s expected to be a low scoring affair. Meanwhile Torino +0.5 comes in at +105.
For Serie A betting news, odds analysis, and more, visit Point Spreads Sports Magazine.
