AC Milan face a crunch clash with Benevento on Saturday night, and Stefano Pioli is expected to be boosted by the return of Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
The Rossoneri have suffered back-to-back defeats in our last two games, which in turn has seen us slip to fifth place in the Serie A table, and importantly outside of the Champions League qualification spots.
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With that in mind, it’s imperative that we get back to winning ways this weekend and hope that our rivals slip up, while we still have to play Juventus and Atalanta before the season is over.
Changes could be made this weekend, and there is a crucial one up front as Ibrahimovic is expected to return to the starting XI having missed the last two games due to a muscle injury, as per Sky Sport Italia.
The 39-year-old has joined in group training this week and is expected to be at Pioli’s disposal, and so he could come in to replace Mario Mandzukic as the focal point of our attack.
Given we lost both games without our influential talisman and scored just one goal, it will come as a huge relief to have him back, and he’ll no doubt be pivotal in helping his teammates find their form too.
In the only other touted change by La Gazzetta dello Sport in their graphic below, captain Alessio Romagnoli could return to the heart of the defence in place of Fikayo Tomori.
The Chelsea loanee has had a difficult couple of games where he will feel he could have done better to prevent some of the goals that we’ve conceded, and so with so much at stake, it appears as though Romagnoli could be drafted back in by Pioli to partner Simon Kjaer at the back.
It could be a risky move considering the Italian’s lack of playing time in recent months having been sidelined by injury too, and so time will tell if that’s something that Pioli tweaks as he looks to ensure his side secure all three points on Saturday.
The rest of the XI is to be as expected, albeit there is one other area in which Pioli could be tempted to make a change and that’s on the right wing with Alexis Saelemaekers currently being tipped to get the nod.
With Samu Castillejo, Rafael Leao, Brahim Diaz and Jens Petter Hauge on the bench and waiting for a chance, time will tell if Pioli opts for one of them or sticks with his usual starter, as Milan go into a must-win game in terms of our hopes of securing a seat at Europe’s top table next season.
