AC Milan face Udinese in Serie A this weekend, and here’s how Stefano Pioli’s starting line-up could look for the encounter.
The Rossoneri’s injury woes have continued over the past week, with Pierre Kalulu undergoing surgery and facing a four-month layoff. Further, Christian Pulisic and Marco Pellegrino picked up knocks last time out, and they’ll both be absent on Saturday night, as confirmed by the Milan boss in his pre-match press conference.
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Marco Sportiello, Mattia Caldara, Ismael Bennacer, Samuel Chukwueze and Simon Kjaer all remain sidelined too, and so there is certainly some concern over the lack of competition and depth we have in key areas.
In terms of changes for this game though to the side that picked up a point at Napoli last weekend, Pioli is expected to make two.
With Kalulu out, Malick Thiaw will be expected to come back into the starting line-up to partner with Fikayo Tomori in the heart of the Milan defence, with Theo Hernandez and Davide Calabria in the full-back positions and Mike Maignan between the posts.
It will most likely be the same midfield trio that starts this game with Yunus Musah, Rade Krunic and Tijjani Reijnders tasked with giving us control of possession and tempo in the middle of the pitch, and there was some good news on the injury front this week as Pioli confirmed that Ruben Loftus-Cheek will be back in the squad.
Olivier Giroud will lead the line as he looks to build on his brace last weekend and put together a much-needed run of goalscoring form, with Rafael Leao looking to get back to his best still out on the left flank.
In Pulisic’s absence, Luka Romero could get a chance to impress, although Noah Okafor will perhaps come into contention too as Pioli looks for the right balance and attacking threat in his Milan XI.
Although Udinese are precariously positioned above the relegation zone after 10 games and are still searching for their first win of the Serie A campaign, Milan’s concerning form and injuries will make this a more complicated task.
The Rossoneri have to produce quality and a ruthless display to get three points, and that in turn will hopefully boost confidence and belief ahead of welcoming Paris Saint-Germain to San Siro on Tuesday night for our Champions League showdown.
Image courtesy of La Gazzetta dello Sport.