AC Milan travel to Empoli on Sunday as we look to kick-start 2024 in Serie A with three important points, and here’s how Stefano Pioli’s starting line-up could look for the encounter.
The Rossoneri began the New Year well as we secured a 4-1 win over Cagliari at San Siro on Tuesday night in the Coppa Italia, and that was hopefully an important confidence boost after seeing off Sassuolo to end 2023.
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With the battle on for a top-four finish as we also try to close the gap on Inter and Juventus at the top of the standings, a positive performance and result this weekend is necessary as we look to build some momentum.
It certainly won’t be easy against an Empoli side scrapping for survival as they attempt to escape the relegation zone on Sunday, and so it’s imperative that we get our game-plan right and Pioli sets us up with the most effective line-up.
Gabbia in the mix, Musah returns…decisions for Pioli
After returning from his loan stint at Villarreal early given our injury crisis at the back, Matteo Gabbia will be available to Pioli for this encounter, but it remains to be seen if he immediately returns to the starting XI.
If it’s decided that he’ll be gradually reintegrated, which is arguably the more sensible approach, we could see the Theo Hernandez-Simon Kjaer partnership continue in the middle, with Alessandro Florenzi and Davide Calabria in the full-back positions ahead of Mike Maignan between the posts.
Meanwhile, there was positive news on the injury front in midweek as Yunus Musah is expected to be named in the matchday squad again after his injury layoff, but again, it’s questionable if he’ll come straight in given his lack of playing time.
Pioli could ultimately opt for a midfield trio consisting of Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Yacine Adli and Tijjani Reijnders, with a familiar attacking trident of Christian Pulisic, Olivier Giroud and Rafael Leao ahead of them.
After rotating and resting a number of key players in midweek, we’ll hopefully go into this game fresh and fully prepared to start well, and it’s hoped that not only will we have the required balance and quality in this Milan XI to get the job done, but our youth options as well as the likes of Luka Jovic on the bench will make an impact if needed.
Predicted AC Milan XI vs Empoli: Maignan; Calabria, Kjaer, Theo, Florenzi; Loftus-Cheek, Adli, Reijnders; Pulisic, Giroud, Leao.
Agree with the Milan XI above, or what changes would you make?
