AC Milan begin their Serie A campaign on Monday night as we travel to face Sampdoria in our season opener, with Olivier Giroud set to make his debut.
The Rossoneri have been busy in the summer transfer window and have produced some decent displays in pre-season as we work towards building on last year.
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Securing Champions League qualification will be the objective again, while the hope is that we can kick on and challenge for the Scudetto while also being competitive in Europe too.
For now though, the focus is on Sampdoria and starting positively, as it would be ideal if we can secure back-to-back wins before the international break to build confidence and belief in our ability to really challenge and achieve our aims.
Largely familiar XI, two debutants
One of the major changes to the side will be between the posts as Mike Maignan steps in and will look to make Milan fans quickly forget former shot-stopper Gianluigi Donnarumma.
The Frenchman has been impressive through pre-season, and so it’s hoped he can build on that and become a reliable and decisive figure with the familiar back-four of Davide Calabria, Simon Kjaer, Fikayo Tomori and Theo Hernandez in front of him.
Franck Kessie is out injured so Sandro Tonali is expected to replace him in the XI, sitting alongside Ismael Bennacer in the deeper midfield pairing.
Alexis Saelemaekers, Brahim Diaz and Rafael Leao have all featured heavily during pre-season and so are arguably best placed in terms of fitness to lead our attacking play in the final third, with the onus on Diaz more so this season after taking the No.10 shirt.
It’s a big year for many of the players in the squad, but with the Milan management showing faith in Leao again this summer to keep him at the club, he knows he’ll have to produce consistently to repay that confidence.
With Zlatan Ibrahimovic still working his way back to full health after a knee injury ended last season early for him, Giroud will get the nod up front and make his competitive Milan debut.
The 34-year-old has been brilliant through pre-season, scoring goals and showing great class up top in holding up the ball and linking play to give us a focal point in attack. It’s hoped that he can take that form into this one and open his Milan account immediately.
It’s going to be a tough game for Milan and Pioli, as Sampdoria away is always a tricky fixture and they have quality in attack to cause us problems. In turn, the defence needs to be switched on to give us a foundation to go out and win the game, while our attacking individuals, led by Giroud, need to produce and be clinical in order for us to put three points on the board straight off the bat.
MILAN (4-2-3-1): Maignan, Calabria, Kjaer, Tomori, Theo, Tonali, Bennacer, Saelemaekers, Brahim Diaz, Leao, Giroud.
