AC Milan face a difficult trip to Bergamo to face Atalanta on Sunday night, with Stefano Pioli facing some key decisions with regards to his starting XI.
The Rossoneri began the defence of our Serie A title with a 4-2 win over Udinese last weekend, and although it was far from a perfect display, there were plenty of positives for Pioli to take from it given it was a season opener.
READ MORE: Five key talking points as Milan see off Udinese to start with win
However, despite our recent successes and memorable wins at Atalanta, this fixture is always a difficult one to face and there is no doubt that Milan will have to be at their best to get something from the game and continue to make a promising start.
Pioli will be boosted by the return of Sandro Tonali who has recovered from his knock to be in contention, but could that be the only switch that the Milan boss makes on Sunday night?
Tonali back in Milan XI, Rebic over Giroud
After returning to training this week, Tonali will be expected to take his place in the Milan midfield this weekend at the expense of Rade Krunic, which will see the return of the favoured duo in that area of the pitch alongside Ismael Bennacer.
With no fresh injury concerns, Pioli will likely stick with the same backline of Mike Maignan, Davide Calabria, Pierre Kalulu, Fikayo Tomori and Theo Hernandez, with that quintet looking to shore things up and become a tighter defensive unit moving forward.
That was one aspect of our performance last time out that needs work, as although we’re still building towards top form and condition, defensively we need to step it up especially against a dangerous opponent like Atalanta.
The presence of Tonali and Bennacer providing protection in midfield will also help with that, thus hopefully setting a foundation for Alexis Saelemaekers, Brahim Diaz, Rafael Leao and Ante Rebic to go out and win the game for us.
Following his impressive return to form last week, Diaz will no doubt be given an opportunity to build on that, as will Rebic who will keep Olivier Giroud on the bench, with the Milan pair both performing at a high level last time out and subsequently deserving another shot.
Leao will also keep his place given his pace and directness down the left side will be key, particularly on the counter attack, while Saelemaekers should get the nod over Messias, with the view that Charles De Ketelaere will get on and get more minutes under his belt at some stage.
We can expect a strong Milan XI coupled with a talented bench that can change the game if necessary. Time will tell if this is what Pioli goes with, but it certainly should be good enough to compete and hopefully come away with a result.
Probable AC Milan XI vs Atalanta: Maignan; Calabria, Kalulu, Tomori, Theo; Tonali, Bennacer; Saelemaekers, Brahim, Leao; Rebic.
