AC Milan host Verona in Serie A on Saturday, and Stefano Pioli is expected to rotate and make multiple changes to his starting line-up.
A wasteful Rossoneri were held to a frustrating goalless draw by Newcastle Utd in the Champions League in midweek, and so although the response to our defeat to Inter was positive, we weren’t able to secure the desired result.
READ MORE: Five key talking points as Milan held to goalless draw in CL opener
In turn, it’s now imperative that we get back to winning ways this weekend and rebuild confidence and morale, but Pioli has to balance that with resting key individuals during a challenging period in the fixture schedule.
Milan face Cagliari away on Wednesday evening before hosting Lazio next Saturday, and so it’s important to keep everyone fresh and avoid injury setbacks that could damage our longer-term season outlook.
Nevertheless, the Milan boss is still expected to go strong this weekend, but it’s expected there will be changes after some knocks during the week.
Sportiello, Musah to start, more rotation from Pioli?
With Mike Maignan being forced off in midweek, Marco Sportiello is expected to step in and replace the Frenchman, albeit it has since been reported that the setback isn’t serious and he’ll be monitored moving forward.
Alessandro Florenzi could come in for Davide Calabria to give our captain a rest, with Malick Thiaw, Fikayo Tomori and Theo Hernandez perhaps completing the backline.
It remains to be seen if Pioli goes this strong in defence, as Simon Kjaer will of course be an option to deputise, or as La Gazzetta dello Sport have suggested, there could be a system change to a 3-4-3, with all three centre-halves starting.
Time will tell if the Milan boss goes down that route, but it doesn’t seem necessary and with pressure on to get a positive result, he should arguably be wary of changing too much for this one and can save his tactical changes for midweek at Cagliari.
In midfield, Yunus Musah should come in for Ruben Loftus-Cheek after the latter came off with cramp on Tuesday, with Rade Krunic and Tijjani Reinjders partnering him in the middle.
The Dutchman started on the bench last time out, and so he’ll be a fresh presence in the heart of the side with an influential role to play, while Krunic should arguably be rested too given his workload so far this season but a lack of alternatives make it difficult.
Up top, Christian Pulisic could come back in for Samuel Chukwueze, while Olivier Giroud could lead the line with Rafael Leao out on the left in his usual role.
Similarly here, the likes of Luka Jovic, Noah Okafor and Chukwueze will be pushing for a start and it could be seen as an opportunity for Pioli to rest his usual starters. However, such is the importance of getting a win here coupled with some of these players looking to rediscover their best form, it might make sense to start them and bring them off once they’ve hopefully made a decisive impact.
After a difficult week and two disappointing results, particularly the Derby defeat, it’s fundamental Milan put in a strong performance here and come away with all three points.