AC Milan host Venezia at San Siro on Wednesday night, and Stefano Pioli is expected to rotate and make changes to his starting XI.
The Rossoneri are in the midst of a busy period in our fixture schedule, as after facing Juventus on Sunday, we take on Venezia in midweek ahead of visiting Spezia at the weekend before clashes with Atletico Madrid and Atalanta next week.
READ MORE: Tomori, Tonali establishing themselves as rocks in Pioli’s Milan
In turn, this is where strength in depth in the squad is vital, as we must rest key individuals at opportune moments to ensure that everyone is fit and avoiding injury setbacks.
With Venezia struggling at the wrong end of the table to start the Serie A campaign, this could be an ideal chance to rotate, but Pioli will know his side must also guard against complacency to avoid a damaging slip-up.
Ibrahimovic, Giroud out while Tomori and Kessie could be rested
Both Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Olivier Giroud are expected to miss out due to injury, with the pair suffering from an Achilles tendon and back problem respectively.
That in turn limits what Pioli can do in the final third, and so it’s expected that Ante Rebic will once again lead the line, while the likes of Pietro Pellegri will be on the bench and possibly be in line to get playing time.
As per MilanNews, via Sky Sport Italia, Matteo Gabbia could come in for his first start of the season to give Fikayo Tomori some much needed rest after a brilliant but taxing start to the campaign, and so that in turn will see Gabbia partner Alessio Romagnoli in the heart of the defence with Simon Kjaer picking up a problem at Juventus.
MilanNews also add Ismael Bennacer could come in for Franck Kessie, with the former struggling against Liverpool as he appeared to be lacking full match fitness and sharpness as he fell short of the usual high standards that he sets.
Pierre Kalulu will slot in at right-back after Davide Calabria’s injury blow, while Alessandro Florenzi is being tipped to replace Alexis Saelemaekers on the right wing in another change with a view of resting a key player.
That aside, the rest of the XI looks familiar and so it’s hoped that despite the changes and possible disruption to our rhythm and chemistry on the pitch that might cause, that we still get the three points and continue to set the tone and pace at the top of the Serie A table.
As seen in the tweet below, La Gazzetta dello Sport don’t expect as much rotation, but given our upcoming schedule, it seems likely that there will be more tweaks made by Pioli to his Milan XI.
Probable Milan XI vs Venezia: Maignan; Kalulu, Gabbia, Romagnoli, Theo; Tonali, Bennacer; Florenzi, Brahim Diaz, Leao; Rebic.
Olivier Giroud not expected to be available for Venezia game due to back problem.
Blow as think we play lot better with a focal point up top. That said, Ante Rebic in great form, hopefully continues in midweek.
Probable XIs…#ACMilan #ForzaMilan #SempreMilan pic.twitter.com/R4r7Qx7J5D
— Talk Milan (@talkmilan1) September 21, 2021
