AC Milan face a trip to Monza on Saturday as we look to maintain our improved form over the past week and extend our winning run.
The Rossoneri went through a bitterly difficult run through January and the start of February, but after back-to-back wins and clean sheets against Torino and Tottenham respectively, it’s hoped that Stefano Pioli and the players have turned a corner.
READ MORE: Milan player ratings vs Tottenham: Diaz decisive, Thiaw excellent
Having rediscovered our defensive solidity, Milan will hopefully now build on the last two performances and continue to improve, and we’ll need to be at our best again this weekend to avoid an upset.
It had been hoped that there would be positive news on the injury front, but as reported by MilanNews, Pioli told the media on Friday that Ismael Bennacer will still be missing as he recovers from his injury, albeit it’s hoped that he is available against Atalanta next Sunday.
Meanwhile, Fikayo Tomori will return to the squad in a key boost, while the likes of Aster Vranckx and Zlatan Ibrahimovic will be included as they look to compete for minutes, but Davide Calabria will be another absentee as he hasn’t overcome a hip problem.
Three potential changes to Milan XI from Pioli
Ciprian Tatarusanu will continue between the posts with Mike Maignan still not ready to return, while the expectation is that Pioli will stick with the three-man defence that has led to our improved defensive form.
Tomori has been tipped to come in to replace Simon Kjaer, with Malick Thiaw rightly keeping his spot given how he has impressed over the past week, while Pierre Kalulu will complete the backline.
Theo Hernandez will operate on the left flank with Sandro Tonali and Rade Krunic in the middle, as with Bennacer not yet ready to return, the likelihood is that we will keep that consistency in midfield.
However, there could be a change on the right side, with Messias Junior tipped to get the nod over Alexis Saelemaekers. Both have struggled to provide quality in the final third, and so it’s hoped that whoever is handed a starting berth can put in a defensive shift but also be decisive in attack too.
Brahim Diaz and Rafael Leao are expected to continue to support the frontman, but our third change could come up top with Olivier Giroud given a well-earned rest, as Divock Origi could be given another opportunity to impress.
With Ibrahimovic still lacking match fitness, he remains a potential option off the bench for now, and while it’s hoped that we’re in a commanding position towards the latter stages of this game, the veteran Swede could hopefully make an appearance and get valuable minutes to build his fitness levels.
Kjaer, Matteo Gabbia, Saelemaekers, Giroud and Ante Rebic could all arguably be in contention to start this game, and so it will be interesting to see what Pioli eventually goes with as his best possible line-up which is most suited to picking up three more important points.
Possible Milan XI (3-4-2-1): Tatarusanu; Kalulu, Tomori, Thiaw; Messias, Tonali, Krunic, Hernandez; Diaz, Leao; Origi.
