Milan return to business on Saturday as the international break concludes and Serie A resumes with Sampdoria visiting San Siro.
With Champions League qualification on the line with just 10 games remaining, and perhaps a Scudetto push too, Stefano Pioli will be fully aware that his side can ill-afford to drop points in the coming weeks.
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In turn, he’ll be delighted as his squad edges ever closer to being at full-strength, albeit there are still a few key individuals ruled out due to injury.
Davide Calabria, Alessio Romagnoli, Rafael Leao and Mario Mandzukic are expected to miss out, as per La Gazzetta dello Sport, but with a number of other influential figures stepping up their fitness and returning to the starting XI, a strong line-up is expected this weekend.
Gianluigi Donnarumma, Theo Hernandez, Fikayo Tomori and Simon Kjaer will likely form the defence, with Diogo Dalot and Pierre Kalulu battling it out for a starting berth at right-back in Calabria’s absence.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic is expected to lead the line with Ante Rebic, Hakan Calhanoglu and Alexis Saelemaekers supporting him in the final third, with the Croatian international successfully appealing against his recent suspension and recovering from injury to feature.
However, perhaps the biggest boost for Milan and Pioli comes in midfield as Ismael Bennacer is being tipped to start alongside Franck Kessie to form the foundation and engine room of the side that performed so well last year post-lockdown.
The pair have a major influence on the team as a whole with their defensive and attacking work, and so it will be a relief to see them return to their usual roles for the remainder of the season provided that they can stay fit and clear of injury.
Time will tell if there are any surprises or changes from Pioli to the touted line-up below, but having battled through difficult weeks with several key absentees, the predicted XI is certainly starting to look a lot stronger just at the right time as we gear up for a pivotal run-in.
As per MilanNews, it’s suggested that Saelemaekers could play at right-back instead of Dalot, with Samu Castillejo coming in on the right wing, with Sky Sport Italia going for a similar XI too on the eve of the clash.
AC MILAN (4-2-3-1): Donnarumma; Saelemaekers, Tomori, Kjaer, Theo Hernandez; Bennacer, Kessie; Castillejo, Calhanoglu, Rebic; Ibrahimovic.
