Allegri wants to see more smiles from AC Milan forward Nkunku

Massimiliano Allegri wants to see more smiles from Christopher Nkunku as the forward aims to break his Serie A duck.

Nkunku, who joined AC Milan in the summer from Chelsea, is yet to score in Serie A.

The France forward has played 10 top-flight games, but his only goal involvement has been an assist.

Allegri, though, just wants to see Nkunku play with a smile on his face.

Ahead of Serie A leaders Milan taking on Sassuolo, Allegri said: "He must be more serene, because we all wanted him here.

"His team-mates and the club trust him. I told him he has to smile more. If he does so, things will improve. He’s an important player with technical skills, and I’m convinced he’ll do excellent things.

"He has worked a lot. [Against Torino], we scored the third goal because he attacked the near post well, freeing the space for [Christian] Pulisic. He has extraordinary technical qualities and can score goals."

While Nkunku is yet to get going, Pulisic has had no such trouble.

The United States international came off the bench to net twice in Milan's 3-1 win over Torino last time out, and he is their leading scorer in Serie A this term, with seven goals.

"He still has room for improvement," Allegri said of Pulisic.

"In his private life, he’s very reserved, but he transforms on the pitch. He’s diabolical when he’s in front of the goal. He still needs to find his best condition."

While Milan are aiming to keep themselves ahead at the top, Sassuolo sit eighth, though they are only four points behind sixth place.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

AC Milan – Christian Pulisic

Only Harry Kane (one goal every 59 minutes) has a better minutes-per-goal ratio than Pulisic (one goal every 64 minutes) among players with at least five goals in the top five European leagues this season.

With his brace against Torino, Pulisic set a new personal record for goals scored in a single calendar year in his career within the big five European leagues (13 in 2025, surpassing 11 in 2024).

Sassuolo – Cristian Volpato

Volpato has been involved in four goals in his last four Serie A matches (one goal, three assists), having only been involved in five goals (three goals, two assists) in his previous 37 appearances in the competition.

Only Nico Paz and Federico Dimarco (both five) have provided more assists than he has (four, level with six other players) in Serie A this season.

MATCH PREDICTION: AC MILAN WIN

Sassuolo have remained unbeaten in four of their last five Serie A away matches (W3 D1), although they lost their most recent one, against Como. They had picked up just three points in their previous 15 away matches in the competition (D3 L12).

Milan have collected 30+ points after their first 14 Serie A matches of a season for the first time since 2021-22, a campaign in which they went on to win the title.

Overall, on the other five occasions the Rossoneri have surpassed 30 points after 14 league games (considering three points for a win), they have always finished in the top three positions.

Milan have won just one of their last five home Serie A matches against Sassuolo (D1 L3), which was a 1-0 win on 30 December 2023 – they have only managed to win two consecutive home league games against them once before, doing so between October 2015 and October 2016.

There has been nothing to separate these teams over their last eight Serie A meetings, with three wins apiece and two draws – including a 3-3 draw in their most recent encounter on April 14, 2024 at MAPEI Stadium – after Milan had won six (D2) of the previous eight matches between the two sides in the competition.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

AC Milan – 63.6%

Draw – 20.2%

Sassuolo – 16.2%