AC Milan travel to Lazio on Friday night as the Rossoneri look to get back to winning ways after a three-game winless run across all competitions.
Prior to being held by Atalanta last weekend, Stefano Pioli saw his side suffer defeats at Monza and Rennes, and so as we look to continue to solidify our place in the top four in Serie A, a win is very much needed this time round.
Milan resume Europa League action in midweek as we host Slavia Prague on Thursday night, and so with a busy schedule ahead, Pioli has to get the balance right with his line-up and rotation to ensure we’re competitive on both fronts.
With a seven-point cushion over fifth-place Atalanta as things stand, it’s vital that we maintain that gap – and ideally extend it – and so it’s hoped we return from the Italian capital with all three points on Friday.
Calabria in for Florenzi? Tomori set to return from injury…
Mike Maignan will continue between the posts, but the French shot-stopper could see a change in his defence with Davide Calabria potentially coming in to replace Alessandro Florenzi at right-back.
The Milan backline is expected to be completed by Malick Thiaw, Matteo Gabbia and Theo Hernandez who will all keep their respective spots, and so it’s hoped that quintet can provide us with a solid foundation at the Stadio Olimpico, on which we can build and go out and win the encounter.
Ismael Bennacer and Yacine Adli are tipped to start in midfield, albeit Tijjani Reijnders will be in contention to replace the latter having missed out last time round, but the attacking trio of Christian Pulisic, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Rafael Leao are expected to provide support behind Olivier Giroud in the final third.
The Rossoneri will be without Luka Jovic due to suspension while Tommaso Pobega remains unavailable, but there should be a boost on the bench as Fikayo Tomori is expected to return to the matchday squad, having been sidelined by injury since December.
It’s crucial that we pick up a positive result in Rome in order to get back on track with our Europa League campaign in mind too, and it’s hoped that the line-up touted below has the right balance and quality at both ends of the pitch to get the job done and provide us with an important confidence boost.
Ideally it will come through a convincing performance where we showcase our ability and control proceedings as we try to build momentum and consistency, but Pioli and the players know the importance of a win and so that will no doubt be the priority on Friday night regardless of the manner in which it comes.
Predicted AC Milan XI vs Lazio: Maignan, Calabria, Thiaw, Gabbia, Theo; Bennacer, Adli; Pulisic, Loftus-Cheek, Leao; Giroud.
Image courtesy of La Gazzetta dello Sport.
